The Audacious Seven
by Indra tha God
Summary: When Alaya, Humanity's Collective Will, sensed a World where the Age of Gods was not over was on the brink of collapse, It sent its Heroes instead of its Guardians. Seven were assembled. The King of Knights and the King of Conquerors. The Hero of Charity and the Hero of Trojan War. The Witch of Dun Scaith and the Maiden of Orleans. Last, but not least, A Certain Hero of Justice.
1. Chapter 1: Introduction & Reincarnation

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fate/stay night or Highschool DxD**

 **(thanks for the reviews!)**

* * *

Chapter 1: Introduction & Reincarnation

7 Years

It had been 7 Years since the Fifth Holy Grail War ended

It had been 7 Years since he last saw _her_ face

It had been 7 Years since he heard _her_ voice

'Shirou… I love you'

He still remembered the First Night that he saw her. Her Regal Armor, her blue dress, her beautiful voice. He remembered everything like it was yesterday. Saber, or Arturia Pendragon. His Servant, his Partner, his _love_.

This was what Shirou Emiya thought of before he died. He had no regrets whatsoever. He lived his life as an Ideal, and not even once did he have any second thoughts of doing what he did. He tried his hardest to become that Ideal, and he succeeded.

He remembered the names that the Exorcists of the Church and the Magi at the Clock tower gave him. The Red Swordsman, The Second Magus Killer, and his least favorite, The Ancestor Slayer. Even though he considered himself as a failure of a Magus, Everyone was afraid of him. But now, He had passed away. He was fighting against 3 Apostle Ancestors at once, trying to stop them from whatever calamity they were conjuring up. He came out as the victor, but with a heavy price. Lacerations were all over his body, Half of his bones were crushed, and the kicker, Mana Exhaustion. And now he could finally rest, and maybe have a reunion with her.

Or so he thought…

Instead of the green scenery of the Everdistant Utopia, or the scenery of Akasha. A starry night sky was the only thing that he could see. The ground was glass-like, reflecting the beautiful scenery above. Shirou did not know what he was witnessing, and he was sure that the afterlife wouldn't look like this either.

"This isn't my Reality Marble…" Shirou thought out loud.

" **No, It is not, Shirou Emiya"** A harsh voice replied the third-rate magus. Shirou, surprised by the voice, was instantly on guard and projected his favorite blades, Kanshou and Bakuya.

"Show yourself" Shirou said. It was definitely not a nice way to request something, but he was not trying to be friendly either. The voice granted the request. A big blue orb materialized, floating right in front of him. Shirou was ready to project 10 Noble Phantasms after it did that.

"Who are you? And Where am I?" Shirou questioned the orb, while still being on guard.

" **We are Alaya, We are Humanity's Collective Will. You are in what some people called Limbo"** Alaya replied. Shirou, again, was surprised. Why would Humanity's Collective Will want to meet him? The only thing that he could think of was that it wanted something from him.

"What do you want?" Shirou hastily questioned it, not making any small talk whatsoever.

" **We wish to make a contract with you, Shirou Emiya."** Alaya replied with a monotonous voice. It wasn't a surprise for Shirou to hear Humanity's Collective Will was this emotionless and menacing at the same time. He dematerialized Kanshou and Bakuya, but he was still on guard.

"What kind of contract? As you can see, I'm not exactly alive. And to be honest, I think I deserve my eternal rest." Shirou said with a bit more relaxed voice.

" **We've sensed that a parallel world is on the brink of collapse, and humanity there will face the possibility of extinction. Our contract requests you, Shirou Emiya, to prevent it."** Alaya explained its contract. While a Hero of Justice would probably jumped in from the get go, Shirou needed time to process everything and the statement definitely raised some questions. Why did it need him? Why didn't Alaya just send its Counter Guardians? The Counter Force surely could do the job. So why him?

"Why don't you just send your agents to do it?" Shirou needed an answer, even though he was still having doubts whether he would accept it or not.

" **Due to the circumstances of said World, We are unable to send our Guardians there."** Alaya gave its reasoning

"What kind of circumstances?"

" **In that World, the Age of Gods is not over"**

Shirou gasped. _'A World where the Age of Gods is far from over?! That's Crazy! And it's asking me to deal with them?!'_ Shirou thought frantically and after a few seconds, he composed himself.

"While I'm flattered that you think I'm perfect for the job, I'm not dumb or arrogant enough to go in head first against a God" Shirou said to Alaya with a hint of displeasure. Whether Alaya noticed the hint or not, he would never know.

" **You won't be the only one that we send"** Alaya said to Shirou, but Shirou already made up his mind.

"Sorry, but my answer is No, and No means No Bill Cosby" Shirou answered Alaya's offer with a bit of a joke. Would it get the joke? Probably not… but after this, they would probably never meet aga-

" **Not even with the payment of being reunited with** _ **her**_ **?"**

Shirou instantly narrowed his eyes. "And what do you mean that?" Confusion and a bit of anger laced his voice. Why would Alaya bring Arturia to this equation? Did Alaya want to use her as a bargaining chip? If so, he was having none of this.

" **We wish not to send random people to do the task. And the only ones that qualifies are the Heroic Spirits and the likes. The King of Knights would suffice as another Contractor, and even though currently she resides in the Everdistant Utopia, we can still bring her."** Alaya gave Shirou its answer. And Shirou was more than conflicted.

"You spoke about a Contract, what does it entail and what's the payment?" Shirou needed the full details of this 'Job' that Alaya was offering.

" **You will be transferred to the Parallel World with a physical body. How the task is completed will be up to the Contractors since that World is not our domain and we will not be in contact with the Contractors. The payment is the Reincarnation itself. A Second Life for the Contractors."** Alaya honestly answered the Red Swordsman, and said Swordsman was now leaning on agreeing with Humanity's Collective Will, but still he had his doubts…

"Why choose me as one of the Contractors? I'm not a Heroic Spirit and my strength is probably not enough against someone like, let's say Zeus or Hades or any Gods whatsoever." He truly didn't know the power that Gods had. If they were stronger than All the World's Evil, his Reality Marble would be the only thing that he had to face them. Would that be enough?

" **You are who you say you are, Shirou Emiya. It is true that as of now you are not a Heroic Spirit, while you were on your way to the Throne of Heroes, We stopped you in order for us to negotiate the Contract. And we have assessed your whole life, and it is without any doubt that you should suffice for this task."** With that, Shirou accepted Alaya's reasonings and before he agreed with anything, one thing should be confirmed.

"And what did _she_ have to say about any of this?" Shirou needed her saying in this. He was about to do something that he thought was probably one of the most selfish things that he would do, saving a world and be reunited with his love? That was like winning a lottery to him.

" **We shall ask her now"**

"…"

"…"

" **She agrees"**

' _Well… aint that a little fast'_ Shirou thought in his mind. He was elated of course, meeting with her again, becoming partners again, and loving her beautiful bod- Ok he was getting out of track.

"Did she add anything or something?" Shirou asked the floating blue orb

" **She was reluctant at first, but when your name came up, she acceded to become our Contractor."** The blue orb replied.

"Huh… that's nice" Shirou said while scratching the back of his head.

" **So, Shirou Emiya, will you accept our contract?"** Alaya asked the million dollar question to the Son of the Magus Killer. And he now had his answer.

"Just tell me what I have to do" He answered with a smirk on his face, feeling that his second life would be better than the last one.

" **We ask you…to cancel the Apocalypse"**

* * *

Shirou woke up in a forest. After his 'little chat' with Humanity's Collective Will, and said chat ended up with him agreeing to save a parallel world that was still being ruled by the Gods, He was given a physical body and basically got reincarnated to the parallel world. He looked at his body, the state of his torso, limbs and face were pretty much the same, his hair was still white as snow like a certain Archer, his skin was still cream-colored unlike a certain Archer, and he could feel 77 magic circuits were still present in his bod-.

Oh wait…He was naked, he was naked and in a forest, he couldn't have that now could he? So, he traced his usual clothing in less than a second, a white long-sleeved button up shirt, black pants that had 2 black straps on his thighs, and another 2 around his shins separate from each other, and last, but not least, a black metal plated shoes.

' _Wait… it usually took me more than a sec to trace my clothing…'_ Shirou thought. He didn't notice it the moment he got to this world, but now he did…

Mana. A large amount of them in them in the air, so large that it made him sick. The overabundant amount was so insane, Shirou could probably fuel his Reality Marble for hours instead of minutes, probably a day or two if he forced it.

' _Huh… I guess that's one of the difference. Let's see what else is different…'_

After that thought, he noticed that he was in the outskirts of a town, so he decided to visit said town. While he was walking to leave the forest, he noticed a mansion that was located inside of the forest, it wasn't as grandeur as the Einzbern Castle in Fuyuki, but it was still a marvelous house, and a really strategic place to summon the Contractors. The reason on why he was the only one who woke up in a forest alone was because he was the only one who didn't come from the Throne of Heroes, or the other planes of existence, and he would need to become the 'checkpoint' for the others to assemble. if not, they would probably wake up in random places around town.

' _A visit to the real estate agent as well.'_ Shirou made a mental note while going back to the pathway to the town…

* * *

The town was very lively, and interestingly, an adequate amount of foreign houses was here as well. All those things reminded Shirou of Fuyuki, except for the name…

Kuoh Town

The concerning thing about the town was why he was here in the first place. He and the other Contractors were tasked to "Cancel the Apocalypse", and if they were summoned here, then Kuoh would definitely become a hotbed in the near future. Would someone like the Hindu God Indra battle a dragon like Fafnir in this place? Would the Devil fight against Zeus in this town? Or worse?

' _Talk about being paranoid… but it could definitely happen'_

Shirou stopped his paranoid thoughts and let his feet guide him back to the mansion. It had been 4 hours since he entered this world. Information about the town and others were relatively easy to deal with, and the school, Kuoh Academy, was only 200 meters from the mansion. Not that he would go to school again, he wasn't 17 anymore, but 24 years old.

' _She would look cute in a school uni- tha fuck am I thinking?'_ Shirou thought in his perverted mind. Her former Servant in a school uniform would definitely be eye-catching, but it wasn't the time… or was it? No! It was not…

Shirou was now in front of the Mansion. His metal tipped shoes touched the front porch and his right hand was holding the key. The Mansion was an easy buy, it only took a couple of hours to finalize the documents and for the power to be turned on. The Real Estate Agent was elated to see the Mansion getting sold. It wasn't really counterfeiting considering he could ' _trace'_ real money, and the money could definitely be exchanged… maybe a little in the grey area, but hey… nobody got hurt from it.

Shirou turned the key and then entered the Mansion. The architecture was almost picture perfect with the Einzbern Castle, there were some differences. The Mansion was only 2 stories tall whereas the Einzbern Castle was 4 stories tall, the Mansion had 8 bedrooms whereas the Einzbern Castle had 13, and the last difference was the technology. The Mansion had a 75 inch UHD TV in The Main Room, AC, Wi-Fi, and all other appliances. Whereas the Einzbern Castle was well… really dated.

' _It's 8:32… I guess it's time to meet the others.'_ After that thought, Shirou then started to draw a circle in the Main Hall, unlike the Summoning Circle that was used in the Holy Grail War, the Circle was just a plain circle that was drawn by chalk. Now, he only needed to start the Invocation and Alaya would do the Actual Summoning.

He hold his left hand with his right hand and let his left hand point forward. He closed his eyes and started the Invocation. The Circle glowed as blue as the Moon.

" _ **Great Heroes of Old and Present"**_

" _ **My will shall create your body"**_

" _ **And your sword shall create my fate"**_

" _ **Abiding by the summons of Humanity"**_

" _ **If you accede by this reason, answer me!"**_

The Circle changed its color, glowing as red as the Sun. He opened his eyes and continue his chant.

" _ **I answer with my immortal oath"**_

" _ **I will become all that is good in this world"**_

" _ **And I will destroy all that is evil in this world"**_

" _ **Thus, the Seven shall become the Preserver"**_

" _ **And shall destroy Humanity's Ender!"**_

The Wind became more present. The Embers started to arise. Inside the Circle stood six people, no, Heroes. Six Heroes of Old and One Hero of Present were standing in the Main Hall. As the Present was the only one that was on the outside, he let out a single question.

"I ask you… Are you the other Contractors?"

* * *

The first to answer was a gigantic man standing over two meters in height. He wore bronze armor, with cuffs and greaves with white-furred fringes, and a thick red mantle with a fluffy white fur collar. His presence exuded that of 'greatness' and 'leadership altogether.

"I believe that we are, boy. Now, let me announce my presence! I am Iskandar! King of Conquerors and the Great Emperor of Macedonia. I have answered Humanity's calling, and in this second life, I vow to restart my conquest! Hahahaha!" The Man now known as Iskandar shouted. The others were showing unreadable expressions, but knew that the King of Conquerors was a legendary figure. And as for Shirou, having heard of his tales from a certain Professor at the Clock Tower, knew that he was a great man and a great king.

"I'm Shirou Emiya, a Magus. I'm the first Contractor that Alaya summoned. It's great to finally meet you, King of Conquerors. I've heard great things about you from my former Mentor" Shirou introduced himself and nodded his head.

"Hohh… and who might that be?"

"He served your army about 17 years ago… Waver Velvet."

"Little Waver! Finally he has the guts to become a more than a spineless scholar! How is he now?"

"You won't find him here, but he always wanted to tell you that he grew 6 inches." Shirou said. While reminiscing his time at the Clock Tower with his former Mentor.

"Hahaha! Good for him… Is that you, Saber?! It truly feels like it was yesterday when we had the Banquet of Kings with the King of Heroes." Iskandar remarked at the supposed 'Saber'. Shirou didn't let the other figures distract him when he summoned them. The first that he noticed was his former Servant the moment the Circle conjured the other Contractors.

Her regal armor, her blue dress, her blonde hair, and her beautiful figure. It was all that the Second Magus Killer could see, he wouldn't let the others distract him now. But before he could say anything, their eyes met. Both pair were glued, and were filled with a sense of longing for each other. They noticed that the others were watching, so Shirou mouthed _'We'll talk later'_ at her.

Arturia then took a step forward and answered the King of Conquerors. "It really feels not too long ago that we crossed paths, King of Conquerors. I am more than elated to find you as a comrade than an enemy. Your army and my sword shall stop the Apocalypse."

"It seems that you have changed, King of Knights. I found your presence to be better than when we last saw each other. No longer do i see a naive girl, but a proud King." Iskandar made a statement towards her. While others were wondering about their relations and they were sure there was only one "King of Knights" in history. But still…

Arturia only nodded at the Red-Mantled King. She then saw the questioning gaze that was given by the other Contractors. Sensing that it was her time to introduce herself, she composed herself and look at them.

"My Name is Arturia Pendragon, Daughter of Uther Pendragon, King of Britain, and Ruler of Camelot. I crossed paths with the King of Conquerors in the Fourth Holy Grail War. And I know Shirou Emiya, We... fought alongside each other in the Fifth." Arturia stated toward the other Contractors. They were surprised to find out that the King of Knights was actually a woman and fought in two consecutive grail wars.

"Hoh… you were his Master, Young Emiya?" Iskandar questioned the Magus.

"Pretty much" Shirou merely shrug at that question. To be honest, he was _more_ than his Master. But he thought that that info was not relevant for this moment.

"Well… I never thought the King of the Britons would be as lovely and beautiful as a sunflower." One Contractor said. He was a tall and handsome man with spiky green hair. He was wearing an orange and black armor that covered most of his upper body. And he exuded a presence of "Ferociousness" and "Elegance" at the same time.

Meanwhile, Arturia, who was surprised by the words that were thrown at her, appeared to have a tinge of pink on her face. Shirou noticed this, and even though the Armor that the Warrior was wearing was a Divine Construct, which he couldn't comprehend using Structural Analysis, he felt like he needed to establish 'damage control'.

"Ok… Easy there, Abercrombie. Why don't you introduce yourself?" Shirou said this with a serene smile, but exuded a voice that was a little laced with animosity. The Target didn't really understand the joke or anything, but he could sense the animosity. Was it because of him commenting on the King of Knights or something else entirely? Ahh well… he would just leave it with that.

"I am Achilles, Son of the Hero Peleus and the Leader of the Myrmidons. Even though two of my comrades in this second life are 'Kings' of Old, I will hold no animosity towards you, unless you are as much of a selfish prick as Agamemnon. We are all Contractors of Alaya here right? So I guess we are comrades in arms" Achilles stated. He exuded his hatred toward the title 'King', but seeing Arturia reminded him of Penthesilea the Amazon Queen, and the King of Knights definitely reminded him of the amount of regret that he felt killing her.

Meanwhile, the others were holding a sense of acknowledgement toward the Hero of Trojan War. Every one of them knew his story, he was Achilles after all, the Demigod, the Fastest Hero of All Time, and his strength was definitely unquestionable.

"It truly is great to fight alongside you, Achilles. Your skills are definitely undeniable and while I am a ruler of my land, I can assure you that I am not as mad as the King of Ancient Greece" Arturia said to Achilles. She was a little bit wary on his animosity toward leaders of nations, but she knew his story and a king like Agamemnon was no true king.

"I appreciate it, Arturia. However, I am not so sure about you, Iskandar. You spoke of conquest like Agamemnon once did. What makes you different?" Achilles laced his voice with anger and wariness. There was something of the King of Conquerors that reminded him of the Mad King of Mycenae. Yet, at the same time, there was something different about him as well.

"I am someone who strive for conquest. But unlike Agamemnon, I conquer not with humiliation but by conquering their hearts. That is what true conquest means, and my path of kingship shall never be alone because the King's wishes are his people's wishes! That's how I built my magnificent kingdom. A King who conquers the hearts of men. That is Iskandar! The King of Conquerors who ruled over Macedonia! Is that a fair answer, Son of Peleus?!" Iskandar loudly answered. Achilles, while surprised by the Ideology that Iskandar followed, still had his doubts about him.

"For now, I'll take that answer, Old Man." replied the Son of Peleus. Shirou, who was watching the entire ordeal, was now contemplating on whether or not Achilles and Iskandar could be the best of friends, or the worst of enemies, or probably both.

"If I may, I would also like introduce myself to all of the Contractors here, and since we will be comrades for Lord knows how long, it would be unwise to hold animosity for each other." A blonde young women politely said to the others. She was wearing a purple battle dress that was completed with a set of gauntlets and a pristine French sword was placed on her lap. Her long blonde hair was braided and her eyes were amethyst-colored. Shirou looked at her and could probably mistake her for Arturia if not for the different size of her… assets.

"I would love to know your name, Miss." Shirou politely said to her. While the Magus was only trying to be nice, others looked at it like he was trying to woo the French girl, and the King of Knights felt a slight tinge of jealousy.

"My True Name is Jeanne d'Arc, I'm a Soldier of the Hundred Years' War. It truly is an honor to fight alongside all of the Contractors here, and I hope the Lord's light shall bless us all" The Young Woman now known as Joan of Arc said politely. She exuded a sense of "Warmness" and "Purity" within her, and Achilles was again reminded of a time in the Trojan War, where he found his one true love at the Land of Troy.

' _Briseis…'_ The Demigod thought… but no, this was not the time or place for thinking about past regrets. He wanted a battle that Alaya promised. A Battle against the Gods. A far more spectacular battlefield than Troy ever was… Yes, that was all he wanted.

"You have my respect, Maiden of Orleans. If you were born in the time of my country, I would personally grant you a Seat at the Round Table" Arturia said with a serene smile. While she remembered what a certain Caster did to her at the Fourth War, The Story of Jeanne d'Arc was truly inspiring for all heroes to hear.

"Uhhh Y-You don't need to praise me like that, King Arthur. I was only doing what I thought was right…" Jeanne replied while being a little flustered by Arturia's comment. She was never good with praises, and hearing it from the Ruler of Camelot was just too much for her.

Watching the whole ordeal, Shirou thought to himself that both of them looked a little like sisters. _'But who's the big sister though? I mean considering siz- … Ok I definitely need some cold shower'_ Stupid Brain, and stupid Shirou…

"Companions filled with Kings, Warriors, and Casters… this truly reminds me of the Ulster Cycle" a beautiful woman said. The woman had a long purple hair and red eyes, she wore a full-bod outfit that highlighted her curvaceous body.

"I believe it is your time to introduce yourself, Mysterious Woman" said Iskandar, while crossing his arms… and admiring her figure.

"I am Scathach, Guardian and Witch of Dun Scaith, and for some, just a humble teacher." Scathach announced herself with a grace of a warrior and a woman at the same time. It was unexpected to see the Teacher of Cu Chulainn to be here as well.

Achilles found her to be profoundly beautiful, and would probably hit on her… if not for the fact the she reminded him of his own teacher. Arturia and Shirou remembered the time where the Son of Lugh, or Lancer, at the time, sacrificed himself for them.

"Shirou and I once met the Child of Light during the Fifth War, Scathach. He was truly a fine warrior, and to think that his teacher is now our comrade, I hope we can spar together sometimes." Said Arturia.

"I don't have any problem with that, King Arthur. Tell me, was it your sword that gave him his end?" Scathach asked curiously.

"He met his end fighting against the King of Heroes, I wasn't present for the fight but he held him off for hours before Gilgamesh gave him his final strike." She answered.

"Well… that was surprising of him" Scathach said while contemplating whether or not she would survive fighting against the Oldest Hero. Meanwhile, Jeanne was looking at her with an analytical gaze since Scathach was the only one who had slain Gods, while she was still wary about fighting them.

There was one more Contractor that hadn't introduced himself. Shirou felt that he might be the most powerful here, the Golden Armor that he was wearing was definitely a Divine Construct, and his stoic gaze, his calm demeanor, his silence… He truly was what you would call "Divine".

"It would be nice to know your name as well." Shirou politely said to the Unknown Hero.

"It seems that I am the last one… Very well. I am Son of Surya and friend of Duryodhana, Karna is the name given to me. I am pleased to meet all of you, Contractors. I hope that we shall save humanity together." The Man with the Golden Armor stated. Some were elated to know that another Demigod was fighting with them in order to save humanity, some were surprised considering that his name was more than well-known.

"I'm pleased to meet you as well, Karna. I'm sure that we all agree that we hope for that as well." Jeanne said to the Son of the Sun God. She was more than happy to see him fighting with them rather than someone of his caliber opposing them.

Meanwhile, Scathach, having just heard Karna's name, was intrigued… she could see that he was a fine warrior, and perhaps the finest here. The presence that he was exuding and his stoic gaze would probably melt the morale of normal men.

"You're definitely commendable, Hero of Charity" Scathach said to him.

"Yes, you indeed are."Arturia added while giving him a nod and a sweet smile.

"Another Demigod huh? Well isn't that exciting… perhaps we can have a chivalrous duel, Karna." Achilles stated.

"I thank you, Queen of Dun Scaith and King of Camelot. And for that duel, Leader of Myrmidons, I would love to, in the near future." said the man in the spotlight.

From his interactions with the others, Karna had learned about what type of people that were fighting with him, he was always good at reading others. He could sense that the King of Knights used to be less proud of her achievements but had found peace and solace due to the Magus, the King of Conquerors was proud and greedy yet symbolizing more as a leader than a tyrant , the Hero of Trojan War was seeking glory yet wanted something more, something he didn't want to admit, the Maiden of Orleans was loving yet felt like she didn't deserve the love that was given to her, and the Queen of the Land of Shadows wished to end her torment of being immortal, yet she wanted it in order to… live? How peculiar…

' _And you are the most interesting one here, Shirou Emiya.'_ Karna thought while contemplating about the Magus. Everything that he sensed about him was just contradictive, his heart was pure yet broken, he jested yet didn't find any amusement in it, he was willing to do selfless acts yet it was for his own personal gain, and Karna was almost convinced that Shirou Emiya was more machine than human if not for his strong admiration and love for the King of Knights… truly a man worth watching.

"Hm…. Magus, Kings, Demigods and Saints… this is truly fascinating! The Gods shall be wary of us if they decide to eradicate humanity. The King of Conquerors and his Great Army shall fight alongside you, and after that, shall conquer the new world!" Iskandar, again, loudly proclaimed and cut Karna out of his musings.

All of the Contractors had introduced themselves, and Shirou felt like it was time to discuss everything about their mission and the potential enemies they could fight.

"Well, now that the introduction is over, there are some things that we need to talk about. First things first, abou-"

Shirou was interrupted by a loud noise that was coming from beside him… it was a growl, a stomach growl, a stomach growl from the King of Knights… everyone else was staring at her with an unreadable gaze, and Arturia could only look down while her face was as red as a tomato.

"So…. Anyone fancy dinner?" Shirou simply gave everyone a smile while trying not to look at his former Servant.

"Y-Yes… that should be fine" Arturia gave her answer while still looking down.

* * *

Everyone, except for the Hero of Justice, was seated at the Dining table. They were waiting for Shirou to finish his cooking, while everyone thought that dinner would be simple and unrefined, they didn't expect the heavenly scent that was infiltrating their noses.

Shirou then walked out of the kitchen while holding 2 trays of food, he placed them at the center of the table. The first food was a bowl of creamy mashed potatoes, while it looked normal potatoes, the scent was more than inviting. The second tray was literally a giant piece of clay, of course the others were confused, but then the Magus cracked the clay open... and it showed meat that was wrapped in a giant leaf.

"Clay Roasted Pork Loin with Canoe cut Marrow Bone, and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. There's wine if you want as well... So, shall I carve?" stated Shirou.

Everyone nodded instantly, and Shirou cut the meat to pieces in one second. He shared it to everyone and while Jeanne prayed first, the others quickly tasted their meal... _'Whatthefuck'_ thought the others. It was definitely surprising to see that Pork could taste this heavenly, even Arturia, who had tasted Shirou's cooking, had an unreadable expression.

"Hahahaha! This is most impressive, Young Emiya. Truly a meal fit for a King... i never thought that you could conquer someone with food, but now, color me surprised. Even Darius III would be easily persuaded with this food." stated the King of Conquerors. Shirou only nodded at him for his praise and gave him a serene smile.

"Truly, Shirou, you have outdone yourself." said Arturia

"Your food would even make Apollo kneel before you, Magus" praised Achilles while still munching his food.

"This food tastes like it was blessed by the Lord, Monsieur Emiya. Truly, a God-given talent you have." Jeanne commented

Shirou was definitely flattered by the praises that he got. He scratched the back of his head and could only say "Well... it's not that special... but I'm glad that you like it."

"Nonsense, Shirou Emiya. Your cooking is definitely commendable. Tell me, how you know that cooking with clay could create such a dish?" questioned Scathach.

"Yes, I would like to know as well, it's definitely peculiar, even in this age." added Karna while contemplating about Shirou's cooking skill.

"Well.. I'm not the one who invented it. I read somewhere that cooking with clay can create a more... succulent dish, and a TV series once showed it as well. So, I'm no Inventor or anything like that, just a _faker"_ answered the Magus.

"Regardless, it's still definitely more than exquisite." stated Arturia while giving him a serene smile, and Shirou answered her smile with his own.

The Contractors finished eating dinner after one hour. Their tummies were basically spoiled by the Magus. And after a short break, it was now time for them to have a discussion.

"Ok since every one of you is not hungry anymore, we need to discuss a lot of things." Shirou said, clearly getting their attention. He then leaned to a nearby wall and crossed his arms.

"The first thing that comes to mind is the nature of your Physical bodies. You were all Heroic Spirits, but now you've been bestowed with a physical body that was not made out of Prana. And of course that is Alaya's payment after all, Reincarnation. A Second Life." stated the Magus.

"But this is what I don't get. This is not the Holy Grail War, so that means none of you were summoned with a Class designation. Does that mean that you have your Noble Phantasms? Or none at all?" Shirou questioned the other Contractors. Unlike them, Shirou was the only 'Human' that was reincarnated. The question was lingering on Shirou's mind.

"I can answer that for you, Shirou. Like the King of Heroes, We have a physical body and we have our Noble Phantasms, and this body, like any other, will age. But we are not of any Class, All of us were purely summoned and none of us are copies of the ones that reside in the Throne of Heroes. That was why Iskandar remembered the Fourth War. And since there are no Class like Saber or Archer, our Skills and Noble Phantasms are not limited by the confines of the Class designation." answered Arturia.

"Does that mean that you have not only Excalibur but Rhongomyniad as well?" asked Shirou.

"Yes... I can summoned my sword and my lance. It's really pleasant to think that we can go all-out." stated Arturia. The others also nodded at her explanation and reasoning.

' _Well.. that should suffice'_ Shirou thought in his mind.

"Now, this is the thing that we need to discuss the most. Alaya didn't give me all the details of what will happen and who are the ones responsible for the Apocalypse. It stated that the possibilities were endless and said information could lead us to a wild goose chase. But there are things that Alaya told me that was definitely pressing." stated Shirou

"We all know that the Age of Gods is far from over, so what else do you have to add, Monsieur Emiya?" questioned Jeanne while holding her chin with her right hand.

"Alaya told me the ones who are basically at the top of the food chain, and i have to tell you, they are surprising. Alaya told me that most of them will have a role on either stopping or ensuing the End of the World" answered Shirou while giving a serious expression.

The other Contractors were constantly narrowed their eyes. Iskandar was giving a large grin, Achilles was showing a small smirk, Karna was instantly curious, Scathach was intrigued by the list that the Magus was about to tell, Jeanne composed herself instantly, and Arturia held a more serious expression.

"This is in order from the weakest and I will break it down by their respective Mythologies or Religions." Shirou said.

"There are only 2 from the Greek Mythology, and they are at the bottom of this list. Surprisingly it was not Zeus or Poseidon or any of the Olympians, But Typhon, the Father of All Monsters, and Hades, the God of the Dead. Heracles was able to defeat Typhon's offspring, the Hydra, but the Father is probably twice as strong. And Hades... Well, He's Hades. This is your field of expertise, Achilles. Got any thoughts?" Shirou stated and questioned Achilles who was said to be the fastest among Heroes and even Gods.

"Hm... I don't know if i can defeat the Father of All Monsters, and if he has his Offspring's poison, it is definitely more than a challenge, considering my own Teacher, Chiron, lost his immortality to said poison. And as for Hades, Heracles once harmed him with his arrow, so he's definitely not invincible. On the other hand, it's surprising to know that the Olympians are not as strong as the Ruler of the Underworld, but it shows that the Gods are affected by humanity... heh, i wonder what Apollo would feel when i stab him with my spear..." Achilles gave his own thoughts toward the other Contractors while they were processing what they had just heard.

"What do you mean by Humanity affecting the Gods?" Shirou asked curiously.

"The Gods gain powers from prayers or beliefs, they will regress if their followers are shorten. They won't die, they're Gods after all, and will have their own individual powers that they originally start with even if they dont have anyone to pray for them." Scathach interjected.

"So, Hades probably gets some of his strength not from prayers but probably from his connection to Death Itself." Arturia gave her own theory.

"This is interesting, and I wonder how my army will stack up against Hades's followers and the Cerberus" added Iskandar. Some of the Contractors were confused about what he meant by 'His Army'.

"Moving on, we're still at the bottom of the list. From the Celtic Mythology is Lugh, the Irish God of War, and Cu Chulainn's father. And from the Norse Mythology is Thor, the God of Thunder and Wielder of Mjolnir. I mentioned them together because you have some knowledge about both mythologies, Queen of Dun Scaith. So, can you share it with us?" Shirou stated and requested Scathach.

"Lugh is truly a powerful fighter. I wouldn't try to fight him without any plan whatsoever and his Sword, Fragarach, has a frightening ability to make your strongest attack unusable. And as for Thor, while I possess and have intricate knowledge on Primordial Runes that hailed from Scandanavia, I've never met the God of Thunder, but it was said that a full powered blast from Mjolnir could destroy the Himalayan Range." shared Scathach.

' _So, the Mjolnir is equivalent to an A++ to EX rank Anti-Mountain or Anti-City Noble Phantasm... i don't have any of that in my arsenal, and Arturia's Excalibur is_ _most likely... around that level._ ' Shirou thought in his mind.

"You said that Lugh possessed the Sword Fragarach, correct?" He added.

"Yes"

"Is it similar to this one?" asked Shirou and he immediately traced the Noble Phantasm Fragarach and let it float above the palm of his right hand. The Sword's handle was a metal ball and from it, a short sword generated from said ball, the Sword glowed and it looked like it was electrically charged.

Eyes instantly widened. They didn't expect for a Magus to own a Noble Phantasm, and even Arturia was surprised as well. Scathach, on the other hand quickly composed herself.

"It's similar, but Lugh's is far stronger, and has a handle. Tell me, Shirou Emiya, how and why do you possess that Noble Phantasm? I remembered that the Fragas were given a Replica of Fragarach, but only they know how to use it..." added Scathach.

"It's a bit of a long story, so I'll tell it later. But for now, I guess we can move on." Shirou gave his reasoning to the other Contractors. While they were still curious about him, they merely continued his listing.

' _Since that projection is only B+ rank, then that means that Lugh's is probably an A++ rank... that would be a challenge for all of us.'_ Shirou thought to himself.

"We're entering the center of the list now, and it's occupied by the Biblical Religion. There are only two of them and trust me... it's definitely surprising." said Shirou.

Jeanne and Arturia instantly leaned a little forward. They didn't know who would be mentioned, it could be Archangel Michael, or perhaps... The Biblical God himself.

"It's not God, but the Devil, or in this case, _Devils_. Two of the Rulers of Hell, Lucifer and Beelzebub."

Some instantly widened their eyes, while some, narrowed them. To think that Lucifer, the Betrayer, and Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies, would be stronger than Gods themselves. Jeanne was the worst to react, for one second, her hands trembled but instantly composed herself.

"Shirou, if this is true, then are they the ones that will start _it_?! _"_ Arturia quickly questioned her former Master.

"To be honest, I don't know. It is definitely shocking to hear about this. But, Alaya told me that devils will always be weak to 'Holy' and 'Light' Properties, that's where you and Jeanne come in. Your Noble Phantasms might be instrumental if we ever have a conflict with them." Shirou answered.

"And what about the Biblical God of this World? Is he weaker than His Betrayer?" questioned Jeanne.

"We can assume that, or maybe... it's something else entirely. Achilles, your legacy stated that only the ones with 'Divine Blood' or with 'Divine Weaponry' could harm you. So, can Devils harm you as well?" said Shirou.

"Devils are not Gods, so technically they don't have any 'Divine Blood' and their Demonic Weapons or Magic doesn't really count either, i guess." Achilles replied.

' _Achilles will be instrumental as well if we face them_ _._ _'_ Shirou thought

"Unholy Beings such as Devils could bring the Apocalypse, but let's not forget that the Gods could as well. I believe we should keep an open mind about said Devils. We have a slight possibility that the Devils aren't the ones that will instigate it." Karna suggested to the others. They felt Karna's reasoning to be true, even unlikely, the Devils might the ones that tried to stop the Apocalypse since Alaya didn't give a clarification of anything.

"The Son of Surya is right, while the existence of the Devils are disturbing, it is instrumental that we don't hold any prejudice on any beings. It might lead us to our downfall and Alaya clearly doesn't want us to have a wild goose chase." Iskandar added.

Jeanne processed the words that were given by Karna and Iskandar. It was true that the Devils symbolized 'Evil', but an open mind was needed. Even Humans could be far more sinister than Demons, her former comrade, Gilles de Rais, was proof of that.

"Yes... An open mind would be wise for now, but we also need to be wary as well." said Jeanne. Arturia nodded at Jeanne's words.

' _But what Jeanne said back then was truly concerning. 'God' is supposed to be the strongest being in this world considering that Gods gain powers from prayers and beliefs, and the fact that Christianity, Islam and Judaism are heavily connected... there's somethi-! No... Could it be? Is He... no, l don't have any proof of that.'_ Shirou thought in his mind. He stopped his trail of thought and decided his theory would better be discussed at another time.

"I think it's time to move on. These are the 4 Most Powerful Gods that this World have, and what's concerning is that they're all from the Hindu Religion." stated the White-haired Magus.

Karna was instantly more focus and, while the others couldn't tell, showed a more serious expression.

"The weakest among them is Indra, the King of Gods. After him is the Trimurti, Brahma, the Creator, Vishnu, the Preserver, and the Most Powerful One is Shiva, the Destroyer. While I don't have intricate knowledge on Hinduism, they clearly have the power to start a war against other mythologies, and can come out as the Victors. Do you have anything to add, Karna?" stated and politely questioned the Hero of Charity.

"I've met with them, and while I do not truly know the difference between this World and our own, their powers should not be underestimated." answered Karna.

"You hold the King of Gods' Divine Spear, don't you, Karna? Would that be enough for you to defeat Indra?" Scathach asked Karna while the others were remembering the Tale of the Spear the Indian Hero possessed. Vasavi Shakti, said to be able to reduce everything to cinders, even Gods themselves. A weapon so powerful that not even Indra could properly wield it.

"Vasavi Shakti has the power to fend him off, but I myself am not sure whether or not I could end up as the Victor if we were to battle each other. I do not wish to fight any of the Gods from my mythology, but if they are the ones that are responsible for Humanity's possible doom, then my Spear shall meet with them." stated Karna.

Achilles was contemplating whether or not his Shield was able to defend against Karna's Hidden Spear, Arturia and Jeanne was wary about the possibilty of them fighting against the Devas, and Scathach was slightly intrigued by Karna's determination on defending Humanity, she didn't feel any false promises coming from the Golden-Armored Hero and it truly was awe-inspiring for her.

"To be perfectly honest, I feel relieved to know that the names you give us is over, Young Emiya." Iskandar said. His voice cut everyone out of their musings, and they couldn't agree more with the King of Conquerors.

"The list is not over." Shirou proclaimed.

The other Contractors were confused. They had just heard the Magus listed the Strongest Gods here...

"What do you mean? You've stated that the Hindu Gods are the Most Powerful Ones that reside in this world..." Iskandar asked while considering whether or not the Magus had amnesia.

"They're the Most Powerful 'Gods', but not the ones that are the most destructive here. The reason is because these beings can't really be considered as such."

"Who... no, what are they?" Arturia asked her lover.

"They were mentioned in the Book of Revelations. The Great Red Dragon, the Ancient Serpent, and the Beast of 666."

"B-But all of those names were just another way of calling the Devil... are they different entities altogether?" asked the Holy Maiden of France.

"Apparently, they are. Alaya could only classify the Great Red Dragon and the Ancient Serpent as close as 'Dragon Gods' but they're not really what you can consider as 'Gods' and the Beast is something else entirely. What's concerning about them is that their names have a correlation with the 'Apocalypse', if I were to guess on who initiated _it_ , I'd put my money on of them. The kicker is that all of them has enough power to destroy this World."

Silence filled the room. The Contractors didn't expect beings like those 3 to exist, and considering that each of them had a colossal power that could initiate Humanity's Extinction, they were having doubts about all seven of them together could defeat the 'Dragon Gods' or the Beast.

"Gods, Monsters, and even Dragons... Our path is dark, uncertain and certainly filled with great obstacles, but do not forget that we are all chosen by Humanity's will to cancel said Apocalypse. So raise your heads, Contractors of Alaya! We have sworn an oath to preserve this World, and so with our second life we shall march forward to the darkness and eradicate those that threatens Humanity! I say again to you, my Companions, Raise your heads! Raise it audaciously!" loudly proclaimed the King of Conquerors. He felt the doubts that plagued their hearts, and he, Iskandar the Great, would not have his Companions held their head faced downward.

The other Contractors erased all of their doubts after hearing Iskandar's words. Their morale was higher than ever and a spark of comradery emerged.

"Not bad of a speech there, Old Man" Achilles was the first one to reply.

"Your words certainly gives me a sense of vigor, King Alexander." said Jeanne d'Arc.

"A truly fitting speech for the time." commented Karna.

"To be honest, it was more than fitting." remarked Scathach.

Arturia didn't comment, but she gave a proud grin toward the others. Her eyes met with the eyes of her former Master, Shirou Emiya, who was giving a confident smile toward her. Even though the Mission that was given to them was dangerous, Arturia and Shirou were confident that they could deal with what was to come as long as they were together.

"Well... that's a really high note for us to end. So, any of you need normal clothes?" said the Magus.

* * *

 **Author's Notes :**

 **Welcome to my first fanfic!**

 **The idea of this just couldn't get out of my head, so i thought 'Screw it! I'm gonna write this shit'. So, about Shirou, his appereance and other things will be explained (This is 7 years after the Fate Route btw). And about his strength, well... he is NOT the most powerful among the Seven, but whether or not he's the weakest, that is actually really debatable, and no, he won't be dead weight or anything like that... he can definitely step up.**

 **About Issei and the Peerage : To be honest, I don't really like them. or the story of DxD, but I really love the World of DxD (Devils, Angels, Greek Gods, Hindu Gods, Dragons... that's like GOD OF WAR level of potential). Anyway, Issei and the others will PROBABLY have guests/recurring roles because i want the focus to be on the Seven, and no such shit like training Rias's Peerage or something. Some parts of canon will be changed, you've been notified.**

 **And Fate/Apocrypha didn't happen btw (too much bullshit and FUCK SIEG), so Jeanne, Achilles, and Karna don't really know each other.**

 **So, Please Review! And if you enjoy it, hit that Follow & Favorite button. That's all from me. ITG out!**

 **(P.S. : Chapter 2 is halfway done!)**


	2. Chapter 2: When the Angels Fall

**Author's Notes I: Before you read this chapter, I just wanna notify you that I deleted the Command Seals (was a little off my rockers on that one, they're not Servants, dammit! stupid brain!). You can check the first chapter again if you want. With that said, let's go!**

* * *

 **Disclaimer : still don't own f/sn or dxd**

* * *

Chapter 2: When the Angels Fall

It was relatively easy to trace normal clothing, unlike Noble Phantasms, well... Swords were easier. This was what Shirou thought of while giving the other Contractors normal clothing for them to wear. He was no Fashion Mogul, so their clothes weren't really elaborate or anything.

For Achilles, a white t-shirt followed by a black slim leather jacket, grey jeans, and black leather shoes. For Karna, a black buttoned up shirt with black tie, black pants, and brown leather shoes. And for Iskandar he actually requested an XL sized white t-shirt and imprinted in the front of said t-shirt would be the logo of the game 'Admirable Tactics', a pair of jeans, and brown leather shoes. Shirou remembered the game due to spending time with Waver back in his _first_ life so it was easy for him to made the requested clothing.

For the girls, however, it was slightly harder for him to trace clothing for them, not because their components were more sophisticated, but because it was hard for Shirou not to look like a pervert when making _lingerie._ Structural Analysis was definitely a gift and a curse.

' _You know what... I'm just gonna leave 'those' in their room.'_ He thought.

Back to handling their clothes... For Arturia, he already knew what her clothes would fit her the most. A blue, knee-length skirt with tights and white shirt with a blue string tie, and brown boots. For Jeanne, the same outfit that Arturia got but with an addition of a pink sweater and a cross necklace. For Scathach, a cream-colored sweater that outlined her figure, black tights, and black boots.

"Very Impressive, young Emiya. Your magecraft is certainly convenient." said Iskandar

"It has its moments. So... anything else you guys need?" asked Shirou.

"I believe i don't have anything to add, Monsieur Emiya." said Jeanne.

"There's no need for formality, Jeanne. Shirou is fine enough for me"

"Shirou it is then. Now, I believe that rest is necessary, is there anywhere for me to do it?" asked the Maiden.

"There's 5 bedrooms in the First Floor, and 3 in the Second. You can pick whichever you like." Shirou answered.

"I'm going to sleep as well. After exiting the Land of Shadows, I think rest is what I need." added Scathach.

The others looked at Jeanne and Scathach going to their respective rooms. Instead of taking a rest, Iskandar had another idea on what he was going to do.

"Young Emiya, that Television is just massive! I definitely need to catch up with the technology of this time. Can you show me how it operates?" said Iskandar.

"Uhh... Sure, why not..."

Shirou showed the King of Conquerors all the features that the 75 inch TV had. Iskandar was instantly intrigued by the concept of the 'Internet', where you can buy anything without going anywhere, and where Information was constantly being updated, he needed that to know his 'oppositions', especially that Trump fellow who replaced Clinton as the Ruler of the United States. And last, but not least, this thing called 'Netflix'.

"A platform that modern humans made for showing all of their achievements in movies. Now Achilles, why don't you and I watch what the people made for us to commemorate our history?!" asked Iskandar.

"I don't really mind that, Old Man. But I don't think it will even be half accurate."

"You shall join us as well, Son of Surya, and you as well, King of Knights, there should be a lot that they made for you as well." added the King.

"Sorry but I'm going to pass, Iskandar. Sleep is more inviting for me." Arturia responded.

"I'm going to leave you guys as well." Shirou said. He then started to walk upstairs, but not before gesturing Arturia to follow him, unbeknownst to the other males.

"I guess it's just the three of us then. Let's see... Aha! Now this, we must see! Let's see if they correctly portray you, Achilles." pointed Iskandar.

"They definitely cast the perfect actor..." muttered Achilles.

Iskandar selected the movie that told the Trojan War. A 2004 epic film named " _Troy_ ". Meanwhile, Arturia headed upstairs to meet with her former Master. She didn't really know what she was going to say to him even though she had longed for their reunion for quite some time.

* * *

Shirou was leaning at the balcony. The moonlight basked his face while he waited for his former Servant to arrive. There were a lot of things that he wanted to share with her, such as _Illya,_ and others as well, but first and foremost, just a proper reunion would be more than enough.

He watched her coming from the stairs. Her clothing was what he gave her, her blonde hair was still tied up to a neat bun, there was nothing that was different about her compared to the one that fought with him in the Fifth War.

On another standpoint, Arturia saw him to be slightly different. He was five inches taller, his hair was prematurely white, his aura no longer exuded 'Innocence', and his presence was a bit similar to the Unknown Archer of the Fifth War, but different altogether.

His Golden Eyes met with her Emerald Ones. They were now standing in front of each other at the mansion's balcony. Silence permeated the air, and finally, He spoke first.

"I'm here, Arturia. How long have you waited?"

"It doesn't matter how long it has been. You're finally here, with me."

To be honest, she never really counted how many years they were separated, whether it was decades or centuries, she knew that he would find her. True, the circumstances were different from what she expected. She never thought that Alaya would be the one that reunited them. A surprise to be sure... but a welcome one.

Shirou cut out her musings by instantly bring her to a bone-crushing hug. A single shred of tear dropped from one of his eyes. Arturia replied his embrace, her head barely reached his neck, and all she could feel was the warmness of his body.

"There's so much I want to share with you. But for now, I just want to do this." He said.

"So do I."

After a long while, Shirou finally let go of his embrace and Arturia followed his lead, but he kept holding her strong yet cute hands. The Moonlight highlighted their act of love, and no witnesses were present but the two of them.

"You know... Humanity's Will must be really nice to make all this to happen." He joked.

They shared a small laugh. To be honest, Shirou didn't really know what to say right then and there, so his best instict told him that joking would be the best thing to do.

"Shirou, there are some questions I want to ask you"

"About..."

"Well, for one, Your hair... did you dye it?"

"Nope... all natural, well not really, backlash from overusing my magecraft."

Arturia was concerned. A backlash that could turn hair prematurely white didn't look too well.

"How severe is the backlash?"

"The backlash only affects the pigmentation of my hair and actually my skin was supposed to darken as well. But, my magic circuits are able to not be 'burnt' from overusing Projection." He answered.

"That is reassuring.."

Arturia was calmed, but she was still a little concerned about him. Considering the other Contrators were Heroic Spirits, whereas Shirou was only a Magus. Even though she knew that he could be instrumental to the others, he didn't really leave an impression that as big as Karna or Achilles.

"Shirou... about you being a Contractor..." said Arturia.

"I know. You're concerned, aren't you? I get it. I mean, our opponents could be Gods or Monsters, and comparing to someone like Achilles, I'm basically just a nobody."

"No... well, I won't really put it like that, but I'm worried for you, that's all."

Shirou understood completely and didn't take any offense in Arturia's worries, in fact, he kinda appreciated the concerns that she had. His resume wasn't really that impressive comparing to the others, and he was probably the weakest among them. But that didn't mean that he was going to be dead-weight.

"Why don't we spar sometime tomorrow, say, after breakfast. I actually could do it tonight but there's something else I want to do right now." said Shirou.

"Um... I don't see why not. What are you going to do tonight?"

"This"

Shirou then pulled her in for a _sudden, sweet, and long kiss_.

Arturia was shocked for one second, and then returned it.

* * *

Meanwhile, downstairs in the main room, Iskandar, Achilles, and Karna were sitting on the sofa that was in front of the large TV. They were watching the movie that Iskandar picked for them while the other Contractors were sleeping, or _kissing_ for some.

"So, Achilles, how accurate was any of this?" Iskandar asked.

"Well, they were accurate on portraying how cowardly Paris really was. Agamemnon was more of a prick though, that I can reassure you." answered Achilles.

"Was the Mad King really that revolting?" this time it was Karna who asked.

Achilles was reminiscing how bad he really was, and it didn't make him any happier.

"He burnt his own daughter in order to safely land on the Shores of Troy. That's only one of the things he did. But, unlike this movie, his death was more humiliating. Rather than being stabbed in Troy, he died because his own wife poisoned him for returning to Greece with another bride. That... was truly laughable." Achilles let out a small laugh after that statement.

"It is sad for him that he lost his life right after getting what he wanted. He could never enjoy what he sought after" Iskandar added.

"He got what he deserved that's what." Achilles retorted.

The scene changed to the fight between Achilles and Hector, the Prince of Troy. They all knew who would win, and Achilles honestly didn't want to see the scene where Hector's body was dragged by his chariot. It was truly a humiliating sight.

"That was truly not a chivalrous act, Achilles." Karna commented.

"Yeah, I know. Apollo knew as well, maybe I deserve getting killed for that. But that fact that Paris was the one to did it... If i met that Olympian now, I'd probably gonna do the same thing to him." said Achilles. he was okay getting killed by anyone, but by an arrow that was badly fired by Paris, of all people, and got like more than 3 divine interventions by the Sun God... _hell no._

Karna was reminiscing the time where he died at the hands of his Eternal Rival, Arjuna. And how said man killed him unceremoniously while he was trying to pick up his chariot from a pile of mud. Karna could see the correlation... a bit.

The scene changed to where Priam, the King of Troy, begged Achilles to return Hector's body to him.

"Was that how it happen, Son of Peleus? He begged on his knees for you to return his son's corpse?" asked Iskandar.

"In a way." shortly answered Achilles. He really didn't want to explained them how it happened. Karna was about to ask about the girl who he took as a lover in the Time of the Trojan War, but restrained himself from asking.

"Truly pityful and sad at the same time." said the King of Conquerors.

The movie finally ended. It was enjoyable for them, even though Achilles wouldn't really call it accurate.

"So... what else is there to watch?" asked Achilles.

Iskandar looked at the options and then smirked.

* * *

Morning came. The two lovers were intertwined. Shirou was only wearing a white t-shirt and boxers, whereas Arturia was wearing a nightgown that was similar to the one that she once worn 7 years ago. He woke up first and the first thing he did was to look at _her_ face. Her golden hair was not tied to a neat bun, her face features were basked in sunlight, and he caressed her every few seconds.

Last night, they decided to sleep together like they once did. They just wanted to embrace each other while feeling each other's warmth. Well... there was a bit of kissing... and..

 _'Is it creepy of me watching her sleeping?'_ Shirou thought.

Arturia finally woke up. She felt a hand caressing her forehead, and the first thing she saw was the face of the man who she loved.

"Morning." He said.

"How long have you been watching me sleep?" She asked.

"Uhhh... probably half an hour... is that weird?"

"Not really..."

"I also took pictures."

"Okay..."

"Of your feet."

"..."

Shirou gave her a cheeky smile. Arturia was having a tinge of pink on her face and laughed a little, but then she pondered whether or not that could happen. She was experiencing this new side of him, where he would crack jokes some of the time. But he was still the same man that she loved, not a lot of him was different.

"I need to prepare breakfast, so you better freshen up." said the man.

"W-We could stay a little longer." Arturia shyly suggested.

"That is true... but what about breakfast?"

Arturia then quickly got up, as much as she loved being with him, his cooking was definitely more important. Shirou could only smile at her antics, even though it was kinda weird to think that his cooking was the priority.

He then walked toward the door and came down the stairs. While he was going to the kitchen, he could hear the TV was on. Three pairs of eyes were glued to the screen, faint traces of bags were present around their eyes, leaving Shirou with the conclusion that they hadn't taken any rest.

"Did you all stay up all night?" asked Shirou.

"Yes." All three of them replied while barely giving the Magus any attention.

End-Credit sequence then appeared on the screen, and all three of them weren't glued to it anymore.

"So... why?"

"We found this medival series, _Game of Thrones_ or something, and when we decided to go to sleep, we kept thinking 'one more'. Next thing you know, it's already morning." Achilles lazily answered.

"Did you guys like it?"

"None of them are True Kings." stated Iskandar.

"None of them have a sense of honor." stated Karna.

"What's with all the incest?" asked Achilles. He was reminded of his own experience seeing it in Ancient Greece. It was definitely not a pleasant thing to witness.

"So, none of you like it?" asked Shirou.

"Not really..." all three of them replied.

"Then why did you stay up all night to watch it?"

"..."

"You know what, I'm gonna cook breakfast, and for the three of you, black coffee... no sugar." stated Shirou.

Shirou then headed straight toward the kitchen. He was gonna cook something a bit normal than last night. Bacons, eggs, and since he had leftover potatoes, hash browns. Coffee was also necessary for the boys.

Arturia entered the kitchen to see that Shirou was already cracking eggs and peeling potatoes. His movement looked refined. But she felt a little guilty seeing him making breakfast for all the Contractors without any help.

"Shirou, is there something I can help you with?"

"Well.. since you asked, you can peel the potatoes if you want to. You remember when I taught you how to cut and peel right?"

Arturia definitely remembered that time. She wanted to cook for him and was kinda stubborn about it. He taught her how to peel a radish. Next thing you know, they ended up... _kissing._ No! This wasn't the time to think about that kind of thing. She let herself be distracted by peeling potatoes... and she also had a hard time with peeling them.

"That's still the wrong way to peel it, Arturia. Here, let me help you." He said.

Shirou then let his hands guided hers. Whether it was a coincidence or not, their positions were exactly the same as that time. Arturia could feel his warm breath touching her left ear, and his voice were soft yet a little bit rough as well.

"See.. that's better." He softly said to her.

Arturia then looked backwards, and her eyes was in front of his lips. She knew that it would take just a small push from her just to touch it with hers. Just one small pu-

"Do you know where I ca-"

A voice interrupted their act. It was Scathach's voice, and she saw Shirou hugging Arturia from behind while their lips were mere centimeters off of each other. The Witch knew they were comrades once, but she certainly didn't know that the Magus and the King of Knights were in that kind of relationship as well.

"Sorry for intruding." she said before leaving the kitchen.

Shirou and Arturia truly didn't know what reaction would be appropriate for this. They didn't really think that they would need to tell everyone about them, the thought just didn't cross their minds.

"Umm.. I think you should just join the others." Shirou said while giving her an awkward smile.

"Y-Yes, t-that would be better."

Arturia then started to walk out of the kitchen, but not before she gave her _love_ a quick kiss on his left cheek. Shirou was smiling a little more widely after that, and went back to cooking.

* * *

Breakfast was set half an hour after that. The Contractors were all seated at the dining table. It was far more simpler than what he prepared for dinner, but the chef always ensured that the quality of the cooking was always of the highest caliber. Sizzling Bacon, creamy scrambled eggs, and tender hash browns were served for the Contractors to eat, and the drinks they could choose were freshly squeezed orange juice, earl grey tea, and black coffee with no sugar for the ones who hadn't got any sleep. Needless to say, their gut was being spoiled by the Magus.

"A fine coffee you made, young Emiya. Truly exquisite, this is." praised Iskandar.

"To be perfectly candid, I believe that anything you make will always be exquisite." commented Jeanne.

"My compliments to the chef." Arturia said while giving said chef a serene smile.

Shirou truly was honored that his cooking was being applauded by them. He nodded at them for said praises.

After breakfast was over, they were still seated at the same place and still drinking their respective drinks. Shirou remembered that he requested a spar with Arturia after breakfast. Arturia as well remembered, but she was still a little reluctant with a real spar between her and Shirou.

"Shirou, when shall we start our spar?" asked Arturia.

"Why not now? I think I'm set to go. The backyard is pretty big for us to do it." said Shirou.

The others heard what they were talking about. Honestly, they didn't know anything about the Magus. All they knew was that he was a Master in the Fifth War and had the Noble Phantasm, Fragarach. But considering that the other Contractors' names were astoundingly more than well-known, his presence didn't really stand out.

"Hohh... I want to know what can you do, Magus. I don't really want a comrade whose going to be dead-weight considering that you're the only one here without great achievements... except for cooking, of course, but still, not enough." sneered Achilles. The others wanted to defend the Magus, but they couldn't help but agree with him.

"Sure, I'm probably the weakest here, but that doesn't mean I can't surprise you, Achilles." said Shirou while giving him a serene smile. Shirou then went to the backyard with Arturia, the others followed him to watch the duel.

The backyard was huge, about half of an acre was only filled with grass, while beyond that was the forest where the mansion stood its ground. Shirou and Arturia were standing in the middle of the field whereas Karna, Scathach, Jeanne, Achilles, and Iskandar were watching from the side. Shirou was still wearing a white t-shirt and boxers whereas Arturia was in her blue dress and armor.

"Why are you still wearing that?" Arturia asked.

"Don't worry.. I'm changing now"

Shirou projected his clothes, and Arturia instantly widened her eyes. His clothing were exactly the same as the Archer of the Fifth War. Red coat that was actually a Holy Shroud, black sleeveless armor, black pants that he usually worn and black metal-tipped shoes. But unlike the Archer, Shirou didn't wear the red open skirt. He always thought that it was slightly inconvinient.

"Shirou... that's-"

"The same clothes? Yes, it is." He interjected.

If not for his untanned skin and a hair that wasn't slicked back. Arturia would probably think that he was Archer. She then cut out her own musings to focus on the spar that she was about to have.

"So.. what kind of weapon do we use? Practice swords? Or real ones?" asked Arturia.

Shirou answered by projecting something that widened everyone's eyes. He projected the Sword of the Stone, Caliburn. He then threw it to Arturia, which she caught gracefully. The ones on the sidelines were wondering how did he acquire another Noble Phantasm.

"You can use that if you want to." Shirou said.

"And what about you?"

Shirou answered by projecting his favorite pair of swords. The White Sword, Bakuya, held by his right hand, and the Black Sword, Kanshou, held ny his left. Arturia remembered this swords as well, and were wondering if her lover was imitating him or something else entirely.

Shirou then gestured Arturia to start. She then set herself on her usual battle stance. Shirou activated Reinforcement on his whole body. His _red_ magic circuits were surging around his legs, arms, and torso. He then set himself on his own stance. The stance, however, instantly widened Karna's and Achilles's eyes, Scathach narrowed hers, Jeanne was asking herself if what she saw was true or not, and Iskandar was the only one who didn't have any reaction.

"What did I miss?" Iskandar asked.

"His stance..." Karna muttered.

"What? It looks a little amateurish in my opinion." Iskandar added.

"That's not it, Old Man. There's too many holes in his defence. I mean, look at it! He's basically inviting you strike him down. A little too inviting..." Achilles stated.

"They're all intentional..." Scathach muttered.

Meanwhile, Arturia was a little disappointed at her love. She taught him once that he needed to close his opening gaps. She then was the first one to attack. She wanted to end this rather quickly to teach him a lesson. Her sword was aiming for the opening at his left side. Instead of being mere inches toward him, Caliburn was instantly parried by Kanshou, and Bakuya was already aiming for her armor.

Arturia was flabbergasted. She didn't think that her strike would be instantly parried and being countered. She then quickly moved out of harm's way by using her superior agility. Her expression was still unreadable. Shirou quickly capitalized by throwing Kanshou at her. The attack was deflected, and Arturia decided to aimed at his left side again due to his left hand lacking any weapon. She was proven wrong when Shirou instantly traced another Kanshou and held her back. He then started his counter attack by pining her with both of his swords, but Arturia's strength and speed were better than him and held her ground.

Arturia became more serious. This wasn't practice anymore, this was a duel. Her movements were faster and her attacks had more strength. Shirou was able to hold his ground by predicting her strikes and by leaving false openings that she thought she could exploit. Sparks were starting to show. Strikes were parried and blocked. Pairs of swords were destroyed and birthed. All of those were what the other Contractors saw for the next 15 minutes. They were relatively impressed by the performance. They never thought that the Magus could hold his own against the King of Knights, and were glad that they were proven wrong.

"It's definitely impressive for young Emiya. Never thought that he was more of a Swordsman than a Magus." stated Iskandar.

"I cannot call any of his movements "Swordmanship". None of his attacks or defenses have any grace in it. They are all calculative, cold, and his methods are downright suicidal." commented Karna.

"What do you mean by 'suicidal', Karna?" asked Jeanne.

"He leaves false openings in order for him to have a slight advantage against his vastly superior opponent. But one small mistake is enough to invite death." answered Karna.

The other Contractors agreed with Karna. Scathach was thoroughly reading Shirou's swordmanship. As a teacher, she really couldn't endorse such methods. She then looked at his blades, they were definitely Noble Phantasms, but they were constantly being projected everytime they were destroyed. Was it like the nature of her Gae Bolg where she could materalize more than one spear? Or something else entirely? She would need answers.

"I think that's enough for today. If we get more serious, we could accidently hurt each other." Shirou said to Arturia while looked a little bit tired, just a little bit. He let Kanshou, Bakuya, and Caliburn as well, dematerialized.

"Yes. But we need to have a talk after this." Arturia responded. To be honest, she didn't know if she should be proud, or needed to berate him. It was pleasing to see his lover to hold his own, but his swordmanship was just something she didn't approve of.

Shirou and Arturia was then joined by the other Contractors that were watching. They were more than confident that Shirou wouldn't be a liability, but also had questions about his abilities.

"That was fairly impressive, Shirou. Were you trained by someone?" asked Jeanne.

"It was self-taught. And thanks for the comment, Jeanne." Shirou said while giving her an appreciative smile. Jeanne had a tinge of pink after seeing him smiling like that, and Arturia, who was watching, narrowed her eyes a little.

"Well... I gotta say it. I was a little surprised. But not by your performance, but by your weird method of fighting. You're definitely one crazy Magus, I can tell you that." commented Achilles.

"I agree with the Leader of Myrmidons. Shirou Emiya, it was to my surprise that anyone would use such an effective yet potentially harmful method." added Karna.

"Well... I trained real hard." Shirou shrugged.

"Shirou Emiya, that was Noble Phantasms that you conjured up. Can you tell us how a Magus like you have them?" Scathach bluntly questioned.

The others instantly were wondering about that as well. Shirou never really thought about telling them, but he didn't see any harm of telling them either. They were all in this together after all.

"It's because of my magecraft, Projection, or Gradation Air. Due to special circumstances, I'm actually able to make copies of Noble Phantasms, especially if it's swords or any other bladed weapons, though I'm able to project shields or armors as well." explained Shirou.

The other Contractors, except Arturia, were shocked to hear this. A type of Magecraft that could replicate Noble Phantasms of others? What kind of monstrosity was that? Would he be able to trace theirs?

"Of course, It has its limitations. The first thing that comes to mind is that the Noble Phantasms that I trace will always be degraded or in other terms, weaker than the original. The second thing is that I can't replicate Divine Constructs because they're incomprehensible by the human mind." Shirou continued.

"Can you give us another demonstration, young Emiya?" asked Iskandar.

Shirou answered his question by tracing a blood red spear. Scathach widened her eyes. It was Gae Bolg, the Gae Bolg that she gave to Cu Chulainn. She immediately inspected said spear. The only thing she found was different was that the power that the spear emanated was slightly weaker than the original. That said, it was still a frightening ability.

"Even Hephaestus would be jealous of you, Magus. But if you trace my father's spear, we won't be in the best of terms. That is a promise." said Achilles. He was a little offended by the Magus's power, A Noble Phantasm was the culmination of their past achievements and for him to just conjured it out of nowhere was just... a little insulting toward the ones residing in the Throne of Heroes. But he knew that the Magus meant no ill-intent.

"I'll try not to, Achilles." Shirou responded while smiling at him.

"Most Impressive, young Emiya! With your Noble Phantasms and my army, we can conquer any land whatsoever! Why don't you join me after we cancel the Apocalypse? That Trump would definitely be a hard adversary to fight and with you we could conquer the United States!" offered Iskandar. He truly was enamored by Shirou's ability, and he could imagine himself defeating many world-leaders.

"Truly, I'm flattered, but I already have a plan on what I want to do after all this is over." Shirou politely refused while looking toward Arturia. Karna and Scathach knew what that meant, while the others didn't notice it.

"Ahhh... you'll come around one day..." muttered Iskandar.

"Now that that's over, I think I need to take a shower." Shirou said.

Shirou then walked toward the mansion, aiming to get a real nice bath. He didn't realize that Arturia was gazing at him from behind. After their spar, she had this lingering feeling that her lover didn't tell everyone everything there was to it about his magecraft. The most important thing of all, him using Archer's weapons and clothes. It truly reminded her of the unknown bowman, and she needed to confirm her suspicions.

* * *

Shirou cleaned himself, the water touched every intricate part of his body. After said bath, he exited the bathroom and was greeted with Arturia crossing her arms. His hair was still a little damp, so his head was still being covered by his towel. He didn't wear any shirt and he wore his black pants. This appearance actually kinda made Arturia a little aroused. She could see his well-defined muscles outlining his lean body. But this wasn't the time for her to think about that, she had questions for him.

"Shirou, why do you fight like him?" she asked.

"Like who?" he asked back.

"You know who I'm talking about. Your appearance, your battle prowess, your 'swordmanship', all of them reminded me of Archer. So, do you mind sharing?"

"Ahh... well, the short version of the answer is I'm _him_ "

"What do you mean?! Are you saying that Archer-"

"Hold on, that's just the short version. The long one is a little more complicated than that."

"Please, I would like to hear it"

Shirou then seated himself at the nearest chair, while Arturia seated next to him.

"Well... it was years after the Holy Grail War. I had this red pendant that someone left behind. Turns out, it was Rin's. When I wanted to give it back to her, she went a little frantic, she told me that she already had it, that Archer found it and returned it to her."

"That still doesn't answer my question."

"The pendant was actually one of a kind. It wasn't something that you could just buy at some store or anything. After that, Rin was able to deduce that Archer was Shirou Emiya, or at least, a version of him. When I heard that, I didn't know what to think. On one hand, I remembered Archer to be cynical and nihilistic, something that I'm not. But on the other hand, I realized that that was Shirou Emiya who realized his ideals, the one who became a Heroic Spirit on his own, a Hero of Justice. It kinda explained everything actually, why did I find his swords to be captivating, and I was always drawn to him." He explained.

"That must have been quite a shock for you."

"To be honest, it was actually a good thing for me. You see around that time I was a little more than depressed."

Arturia then leaned her head on his left shoulder, and Shirou responded by leaning his.

"You don't need to go on if you don't want to." She said.

"It's alright. You see, around that time, Illya recently passed away. The kicker was that she was actually Kiritsugu's daughter. When she died, I was contemplating whether or not I could truly realize my ideals. Hell, she even gave me 50 of her magic circuits to me before she died just because she wanted to support her 'brother'. My train of thought was always 'How could I become a Hero of Justice, when i couldn't even save my sister? "

Arturia always had a bit of feeling that Illya was Irisviel's daugther. She was silent and, for the time being, just wanted to comfort him.

"But when I found out about Archer, the only thing that Rin wanted to share with me about him was 'he definitely had regrets'. That's when I realized that Shirou Emiya could truly realize his ideals, even if he had regrets, even if the world was against him. And now, I could truly say that I lived my past life to the fullest, there were some tribulations of course, but I don't regret realizing my ideals."

Shirou didn't realize he shed a tear when he was reminiscing about Illya. Arturia then held his left hand with her right. The lovers were only accompanied by the silence in the room, their hands, intertwining, and were comforted by each other's presence.

* * *

Shirou and Arturia didn't realize that it was already noon when they left the room. Shirou wore his white buttoned up shirt and black pants whereas Arturia was wearing her standard clothing. They then joined the other Contractors in the living room. The others were sitting in the large sofa that was directly in front of the televsion, and said television was playing an episode of the series that the boys watched last night.

"So... the Queen had an affair with her brother and the children were the product of the affair?" asked Jeanne d'Arc.

"Yess... damn that reminded me of the tale where Aphrodite had Zeus' child, was it true? Probably... I don't really know, and frankly, I don't want to know." Achilles responded.

Shirou really didn't want to know about that as well. He then remembered that he forgot to give the other Contractors something important.

"There's something I'd like to give all of you. it's kinda important because now you're living in this world." Shirou said. The others quickly gave their attention to him. The Magus then traced 6 cards and shared them.

"Fake IDs. You kinda need it if you wanna go outside or something. I'm not really good with names so just suck it up." explained Shirou.

The Contractors then looked at their respective IDs

"Cole Farrell... that's not really a name for a king." commented Iskandar.

"Bradley Pitt... Ok, now you're just messing with us." commented Achilles.

"Jamal Malik... you are not lying when you said you are not good with names." commented Karna.

"Angelina Germanotta... a fitting name for a witch." commented Scathach.

"Alicia Knightley... that's rather nice." commented Jeanne.

Meanwhile, Arturia was looking at her fake name. Her face was as red as a tomato because of what was inscribed in the card.

Arturia Emiya.

"S-Shirou.. this is...the name..." Arturia shyly said.

Shirou then looked at her card. He didn't really express any emotion whatsoever.

"I don't see what's wrong with it. You might wanna check it again." said Shirou while giving her a cheeky smile. Arturia looked at it again, and realized the name was changed.

Arturia Knightley.

 _'You!'_ Arturia thought in her mind while pouting heavily. It was rather cute for Shirou to witness. Arturia composed herself after awhile.

"Shirou, I have the same last name as Jeanne's." stated Arturia.

"Ahh, yes. I figured 'why not?'. It's actually a good background, dont you think?" Shirou said.

"Well... I never had a sister before... hope you can take care of me, King Arturia." Jeanne politely said.

"There's no need for formality, Arturia is fine. And Shirou, the age is wrong, I'm not 17." Arturia said.

"You're not?" the others asked the King of Knights. Arturia did look like a teenage girl rather than an adult.

"No!" Arturia proclaimed.

Shirou had a little laugh because of that. He knew that she was about 30 years old by the time her past life ended. But still...

"It's just for appearance' sake. Now, I'm going to the town to buy some groceries, and I gotta ask, why is the wine gone in less than a day?" Shirou said.

Some of the Contractors, Iskandar and Achilles, refused to give him eye-contact. Shirou already knew why.

"You know what, forget it."

"Shirou, do you need some company?" Arturia asked.

"I can help you as well, Shirou." Jeanne offered.

"You don't really need to, I'm only gonna be gone for a few minutes."

"Just be careful, alright?" Arturia asked her lover.

"Sure, but it's only buying groceries, what could go wrong?" he said.

* * *

A walk to the town was basically forgettable for our Hero of Justice. He went to the supermarket to buy everything he wanted for making meals, and then went to restock the wine cellar as well. he didn't realize that it was almost sundown, the sky was orange from the setting sun. He decided to take a shortcut and went through a park, and witnessed

A woman wearing a really revealing outfit, but that wasn't the thing that surprised him. No, what surprised him was the black wings that sprouted from her shoulder blades. Shirou's eyes widened when he saw the body of a teenager bleeding on the ground. There was no time for second thoughts, someone needed to be saved.

"Sorry, your existance poses a threat to us. Blame God for planting that Sacr-"

Shirou kicked the black-winged woman from behind her and the force of the kick sent her flying into the nearby woods. The woman felt like her bones, her insides, and her pride, were all broken immediately after said kick. Shirou followed her into the woods, he needed to make sure that she would stay down. He looked at her body, and after verifying that she was unconscious, he walked back to the park in order to save the boy, hoping that he wasn't too late, but what he saw next made him widened his eyes.

A red-haired girl was standing in front of the boy's body. A red magic circle formed and began glowing, and she held a chess piece. Shirou hid his presence, knowing that the boy was dead after using Structural Analysis. He then used it in order to analyze the girl, her anatomy was the same as a human, except for one thing.

 _'Bat wings in her shoulder blades... possibly a devil, but what is she doi-! She's reviving him!'_ he thought.

Shirou was a little glad that the boy would be fine, but a little concerned cinsidering that he just recently learned that devils could revive someone. He was lacking information, and he needed to correct that. Shirou then looked at the boy, said boy was breathing, but he felt that he wasn't human anymore.

' _She's not reviving him... but reincarnating him as a devil. He's not human anymore, but at least he's still alive'_ Shirou thought. The boy was saved, and that was good enough for him. He then saw a red magic circle on the ground, covering the devil girl and the boy's unconscious body. A small flash of red light then occured and they were gone.

' _Spatial transportation... that's devil magic huh...'_ he thought. Shirou then turned his attention to the black-winged woman. She was still unconscious, and he could tell that he accidently broke her ribs, even though he hadn't got the time to reinforce his foot back then.

 _'Time to get some_ _information'_

* * *

Raynare woke up in a dark grey room. Her eyes wandered around, dark grey ceiling, dark grey walls, and a single light bulb that illuminated the room. It was obvious that she was in a basement. All she remembered was that she was instantly knocked out by someone with a hell of a kick. She saw a handsome man with white hair sitting in a wooden stool that was in front of her, and it was obvious that it was him who did kicked. Her ribs hurt like hell, but it was already treated and bandaged. At last, she tried to move around, but a golden rope was wrapped around her, immobilizing her.

"The String of Hestia, said to be once wielded by the Princess of Themyscira. It's a lot stronger than titanium. But the most important ability is that when someone is bound by this, they really can't lie and can't really refuse to answer anything." He said.

Raynare didn't really listen to him. A string that forced someone to tell the truth? How laughable.

"What's your name?" asked the man.

"R-Raynare." she said reluctantly. Her eyes were widened by this predicament, and Shirou knew that his projection worked like a charm. The String was definitely one of the most convinient Noble Phantasms he had.

"Raynare, what are you?"

"F-Fallen A-Angel." she was trying not to let her mouth to open, and failed miserably.

' _A Fallen Angel... huh, I guess the Biblical Religion has about 3 factions"_ Shirou deduced.

"Why did you kill the boy?" he asked while laced his voice with more authority.

"L-Lord A-Azazel told me to w-watch over him. I r-reckoned that he wanted the boy killed due to his Sacred Gear."

 _'Azazel... he's frequently mentioned in Judaism. More importantly, just what is this Sacred Gear?'_ he wondered.

"What's a Sacred Gear?"

"G-God's Artifacts. I-Items w-with powerful abilities bestowed upon humans by G-God himself."

"A Divine Construct made by the Biblical God, and the boy has one... Interesting." Shirou muttered.

Raynare felt her pride was getting reduced everytime she answered a question, but she couldn't help it, refusing to answer him was like not throwing up after eating a pile of trash.

"Now, tell me everything you know. Angels, Devils, Fallen Angels, and most importantly, Sacred Gears."

* * *

The other Contractors were gathered in the living room, waiting for the Magus to finish interrogating the black-winged woman that he brought to the mansion. When he had come home about an hour ago, they expected him to only have groceries, not a woman who had wings and dressed like a really cheap prostitute. They left the Magus to interrogated the woman in order to gain some information, since interrogating wasn't any of their fields of expertise.

Shirou finally joined the others after interrogating Raynare for almost an hour. She, of course, answered every question. But she continued to show resistance, which actually made her feel a really strong sense of fatigue. So, an hour was enough for Shirou to get most of the answers he wanted, not all of them but more than enough.

"So, what did she tell you, Shirou?" Jeanne politely asked.

"A lot, actually. For one, she's a Fallen Angel, and a foot soldier at best." He answered.

"This is the part where you tell us everything you just learned, Emiya." Achilles said while his hands were crossed.

"Alright, Alright... Ok, there are a few things that need to be said about the Biblical Religion. I'm just gonna break it down to parts. The first one, apparently the Three Factions, Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angel used to have a three-way war they called the Great War. She didn't really know when it started but it ended a century or two ago. All three factions experienced great casualties, especially the Angels and the Devils. The Angels lost almost half of their leaders due to said leaders fell from grace, and the Devils lost the Four Original Satans. Lucifer, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, and Leviathan." Shirou explained

"But Shirou, didn't you tell us that Lucifer and Beelzebub are the strongest in the Biblical Religion?" asked Arturia.

"I was getting on that. Apparently the devils had a civil war after the Four died. The ones that wanted to continue the Great War, and the ones that wanted to preserve their race. The New-Satan, the anti-war group, side won, and then the leaders of that side became the New Satans and holding the title Lucifer, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, and Leviathan." Shirou replied.

 _'To be honest, I thought that Lucifer would lead the Fallen Angels since he was the Betrayer. Was this World's Lucifer just a devil? Or something else entirely different? Another puzzle to be solved, I guess."_ Shirou thought.

"Please continue, young Emiya." Iskandar said.

"There's no subliminal things to say about Heaven and the Fallen, 'God' is still the one that leads the Angels. The Fallen Angels are being led by Azazel, with Baraqiel and Shemhazai as his generals. But now, I think we need to talk about the Devils again."

"Ahh... What can they do now?" Achilles asked.

"This is actually rather concerning. After the Devil Civil War, the current Beelzebub managed to create something that is akin to Pure Necromancy. Devils can turn or even 'reincarnate' humans or other beings into Reincarnated Devils. In a nutshell, he was able to create something that could change the nature of someone's soul to a devil."

The other Contractors were sitting a little more straight after that. To think that Devils repopulated their kind by reincarnating other beings into their own, it was a weird news for them.

"And I just found out that we are actually living under their territory this whole time. The Heiresses of the Gremory clan and the Sitri Clan are owners of this town. I met one of them today, and she's... fairly young, heck.. she even wore a school uniform." Shirou continued.

"What are we going to do about this predicament?" asked Scathach.

"Maybe I can make contact, probably bullshit my way by saying I'm a travelling magus or something." said the Magus.

" I say we take this land! It shall be a promising start towards my path of conquest!" proclaimed Iskandar.

"Dammit, Old Man. Not everything is about pillaging lands, and I don't want to fight some teenage girls that still can't pee in a straight line." Achilles complained.

"I agree with Achilles, but not about the 'pee' thing. it's not our mission to conquer this land, but to cancel humanity's extinction, King of Conquerors." Arturia said.

"Ahhh yes, almost forgot about our vows." said a somewhat abash Iskandar.

"This is the last thing I need to tell you. Apparently, the Biblical God made something called 'Sacred Gears', which is basically Divine Constructs that he created. It's his way of sharing his 'miracles' like a person could heal someone instantly, or a person's strength can be doubled. But the most concerning thing is the 'Longinus-types'. Our guest of honor in the basement doesn't really know much, but some of their powers are interesting." Shirou continued with his results from interrogating Raynare.

"Divine Constructs that the Lord makes... truly odd, I might say. But what are their powers?" Jeanne wondered and questioned Shirou.

"It's said there are 13 of them, I only found out about 3. The first and the most prominent one is The Spear of Longinus, or True Longinus, once wielded by St. Longinus himself. It was the spear that stabbed the Son of God, and the blood of Christ made it the 'Holy Lance'. There's also 2 'Longinus-type' sacred gears that instore souls of 'Dragons', which would probably make the wielders to have powers like their respective dragons." Shirou answered.

"Truly odd indeed, Divine Constructs that the Biblical God conjured up are somethings that we need to look at." Scathach commented.

"Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angels. Could they be the ones that instigate the Apocalypse? Considering they are in a state of cold war, and Humanity's lands could be their playing field." Karna said.

"The possibility is truly up there, but still, we haven't even met the other Pantheons. The possibilities are endless. Well... that's what I gather from the Fallen Angel, probably gonna ask her more when she wakes up." Shirou stated.

"Wait... what did you do to her in order for you to know all this?" Arturia asked her former Master.

"I didn't torture her or anything... just used something equivalent to giving her a 'truth serum', the after effect is well... a big sense of fatigue. She's probably going to wake up about 24 hours from now." Shirou said while pondering about Raynare's condition. If she hadn't tried to resist, she wouldn't have her vitality drained.

"Now that that's over, I guess I need to cook dinner."

* * *

Raynare woke up 24 hours after her first interrogation, she was still bounded by the golden rope, and she was a little hungry as well.

"I told you, you shouldn't try to resist it, otherwise your vitality would be drain."

The Magus was in front of her, sitting in the same stool, leaning forward while holding the other end of the rope.

"Your hungry right? Don't worry, I just have one small question for you, then you can get food." He said while giving her a serene smile.

"What else do you want to know, human? I already told you everything I know."

"Are you in this town alone?"

Raynare gasped at that question.

"N-No"

"Who's with you? And what are you planning after killing the boy?"

"T-There are 3 Fallen Angels following me, and a b-bunch of rogue exorcists that we hired. O-Our p-plan... there was... this Nun."

"Tell me everything." he asked with a bit more authority behind his voice.

"The N-Nun was exiled by the Vatican C-Church for healing a devil. She has a sacred gear, we plan to s-steal it from her. We k-knew a ritual that could split a sacred gear from the wielder.."

Shirou widened his eyes. He remembered that yesterday, she told her that a Sacred Gear was bound to a person's soul.

"Are you saying that you will have her killed?" Shirou's voice was laced with pure rage. His gaze turned cold, and Raynare could only quiver after seeing it.

"Yes."

"Where?"

"The Abandoned Church.."

"When?"

"Midnight..."

Shirou then noticed that it was already 11:40. He then quickly put Raynare to sleep by hitting her on the back of her head. He then ran as quickly as possible toward the basement's exit, kicking the door, and then ran toward the exit of the mansion. The other Contractors saw this and called him out, but he wasn't paying them any attention. He realized that he needed a vantage point to locate the Abandoned Church. So, after he exited the compound of the mansion, he jumped to the top of a house. He reinforced his eyes to look around and find said Church.

 _'Where is it?! Where is it?! There! 400 meters... North.'_ He thought.

Shirou then jumped down and reinforce his legs to the fullest. He ran like the wind, the 400 meter-distance was a brief jog for him. In about 25 seconds, he was already at the Abandoned Church, but he didn't see anyone inside. He instantly used Structural Analysis to see if there was any hidden entrance to the church. Once he found one, he kicked the door in and walked down a set of stairs to a floor below the church. Inside all that he saw was that the Nun was unconscious and was about to be chained up to a cross in the back of the room.

"Give her to me." Shirou said. His voice was cold and laced with anger.

"Who tha fuck are you huh? You tryna be some tough guy or sumthing, pretty boy?" A rogue exorcist said.

Shirou didn't respond. He only analyzed the situation that he was in. Three Fallen Angels were at the back of the room holding the Nun, and eight rogue exorcists were guarding them. He was relieved that the ritual was put on hold by his appearance. He then pondered whether or not he should use lethal force or not. He decided that non-lethal would be best, questioning them later on would be rather important.

Shirou didn't trace his favorite swords, or any kind of sword. The ones that were watching were shocked.. and laughed at him. The Magus had simply projected a baseball bat that was made out of metal.

One rogue exorcist went right at him with his sword. For a human, his movements were pretty good, for the Magus, it was like watching a snail moving. Before the sword could touch him, Shirou instantly sidestepped to the left and, with his right hand holding his chosen weapon, smashed in the exorcist's nose.

With blood sprouting, the rogue exorcist that just got his nose reduced to a mess, screamed like there was no tomorrow. The other rogue exorcists quickly surrounded Shirou. With the end of the baseball bat was touching the floor, and he chose what his next targets would be.

' _Nose, left ear, right rib, right testicle, jaw, tailbone... throat'_

His movement was like the wind. His second victim was the one on his right side, his nose was then pulped as well, he then sidestepped to the left to dodge from an attack and hit the attacker's left ear, said attacker wouldn't be hearing from it no more. He twirled around to meet the rogue exorcist that were trying to hit his blind side, and the exorcist's right rib was broken by the baseball bat. In an instant, he threw the bat at another rogue exorcist that was trying to reach for his gun, and hit his right nutsack... And the scream that he let out was terrifying. He instantly moved toward his baseball bat and looked at the the others. There were only two left, and their hands were shaking. In one movement, he was already in between them. His baseball bat crushed the exorcist's tailbone that was on his right, and then hit the exorcist's throat that was on his left.

All of this happened under 9 seconds. The Fallen Angels were more than terrified, but not only because of his prowess, but because of the cold gaze that the Magus was giving them.

"I said, give her to me."

The three conjured up and threw their light spears, trying to make him go away. He reinforced his metal bat and parried all of them. After that, he walked slowly toward them, the metal bat's end was touching the hard floor. When he moved, a screeching sound was the only thing that the Fallen Angels could hear. With his reinforced metal bat, he knocked all of them out in one single movement. That one attack was too fast for them to react. It was just a single strike from the left side to the right. He then dematerialized the bat because the job was done.

He picked up the Nun and carried her bridal-style. Her eyes began to open, she felt safe and sound. When her eyes fully opened, she saw the face of a white-haired man that she didn't know. Was he an Angel? No, for her he didn't feel like an Angel, but she felt that she was cared for.

"Who... are you?" The Nun asked.

' _A Hero of Justice'_

* * *

Character Spotlight:

Shirou Emiya

Height: 5'11" or 179 cm

Weight: 150 lbs or 68 kg

Parameter:

Strength: D (C- with Reinforcement)

Endurance: C

Agility: C (B- with Reinforcement)

Mana: A

Luck: E-EX?

Skills:

\- Projection (A+): ' _Trace, on'_

\- Reinforcement (A) : Strength and speed are affected if he uses this.

\- Mind's Eye (True) (B): A battle insight that he garnered from all of his training, experience, and tactical battle method.

\- Magic Resistance (D): Not really noteworthy.

Noble Phantasms :

(None)

Other:

\- Unlimited Blade Works (E-A++) : _I am.. the bone of my sword..._

* * *

 **Author's Notes II: Words can't express what the reviews, alerts, and favs mean to me! Thank you all for doing that! I keep second guessing myself if the chapter is good enough or not...**

 **I definitely read the reviews, and I'm gonna try to answer some of them.**

 **About why I chose them as the Contractors. I chose the Apocrypha servants cuz I feel like they got shit upon in that show. Shirou and Arturia cuz why not. Scathach cuz she's one of the most popular in FGO, and Broskandar cuz he's a total bro! I initially wanted to put Alcides or King Hassan but they're a little hard to write. And I almost included Gil or Ozy but they aren't really team players (and Gil would probably castrate Shirou most of the time).**

 **About Issei and the others. As much as I don't like their characters, this is not a bashing fic.. I won't shit on them.**

 **About Shirou. Well.. now you know, I put the 77 circuits cuz Fate route Shirou is kinda weak and not Servant-level enough. I'm probably stretching here, and I'm probably a little off my rockers as well.. but I just wanna make Shirou servant-level that's all. And about Archer... since Shirou didn't really know Archer (in the fate route), he had his own assumptions on him. (wait.. does that mean Shirou and Illya did- owowwo don't go there! just don't!)**

 **Oo An author told me that as much as I hate DxD, I need to respect Ishibumi as well... and I totally agree, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't make this fic!**

 **Metal bat scene is inspired from The Raid 2! You have to see it!**

 **So, do you love it? do you hate it? Please Review! And hit that Fav/Follow button if you want to! ITG out!**

 **(Food for thought: EMIYA vs Iskandar, who. would. win?)**

 **(Beta'd by Swatforest, massive thanks! Chapter 3 is in the works!)**


	3. Chapter 3: Suspirium

**Author's Note I: I'm really sorry for the wait. This chapter is a bit dialogue-heavy, but fear not! Next Chapter will definitely have a big fight scene!**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: Don't own f/sn or DxD**

* * *

Chapter 3: Suspirium

He walked through the cold night with blood stains on his shirt. It wasn't his blood that had been spilled, far from it. Joining his walk was a sleeping nun that was being given a piggyback ride by him. He could have carried her bridal-style if it hadn't been for the cart filled with fallen angels and rogue exorcists that he was dragging. He was definitely thanking his luck for the empty streets, leaving only him, the nun, and the beaten-up bad guys on his way back to the mansion.

Unbeknownst by him, some _devils_ were at the abandoned Church looking for the nun. If they had arrived ten minutes earlier, they could've seen a man with a metal baseball bat cracking the jaws of fallen angels.

After a long walk, Shirou Emiya finally returned to the mansion. He then remembered that he forgot to tell the other Contractors that he left the mansion in order to save a nun from being killed by a ritual orchestrated by fallen angels. The state that he was in would be requiring an explanation as well.

The other Contractors were outside the mansion and was looking at the Magus. They truly didn't know what the Magus had done in order to make him looked like he was. Blood-stained shirt, a blonde nun, and a cart filled with battered and bloodied bodies.

"Uhhh... I can explain." Shirou said.

"Yes, explain to us why you are carrying a nun while also dragging a cart filled with bloodied corpses," Arturia commanded. She truly didn't know how to react to the scene that was being presented by her former Master.

"The Fallen Angel in our basement told me that she and her gang were plotting to have a ritual that could remove this nun's Sacred Gear by having her killed. They were going to do it tonight, but I stopped them. Oh, and they're not dead, just unconscious." Shirou honestly answered and was having the most apologetic smile he could create. He honestly didn't want to experience Arturia's bad side.

"So, instead of depending on your comrades, you recklessly went to their hideout alone without telling any of us where or why you were going. I honestly thought that you were not as reckless as you used to be." Arturia stated while crossing her arms. It was clearer than crystal for the others that she was more than angry at the Magus.

"I agree with the King of Knights, Shirou Emiya. That was indeed reckless. If you had told us about the situation, we would have given you our helping hand." stated Karna.

"Even though you've returned with your life, albeit with blood smeared all over you, I cannot condone such recklessness, Shirou Emiya," added Scathach.

"Yes... we all would have helped, Emiya, especially if it's concerning a damsel in distress," commented Achilles.

"Well... when you all put it like that, it doesn't sound very good... Ok, I'm sorry. I was panicking back then, and definitely was a bit reckless as well." said the Magus.

"A bit? No, you're far more than just 'a bit' and don't think that I'm forgiving this. From now on... you're sleeping outside." Arturia said while giving the Magus a furious glare. She then walked back toward the mansion, leaving the others behind. The other Contractors were still processing what she meant by making Shirou sleep outside, while the man could only feel slightly flabbergasted after hearing it.

"What was all that about, Shirou?" Jeanne asked after stepping toward him.

"Uhhh... It's nothing... I kinda made her upset, that's all. By the way, can you take her to a room for her to rest?" Shirou said while giving Jeanne the nun that he had been carrying.

"Yes, of course. She must be tired after the whole ordeal," said Jeanne while carrying the nun to the mansion. She was happy to think that another follower of the Lord was staying.

"Can you all give me a helping hand carrying them to the basement? I think they can give us additional information." Shirou asked the others that was still outside. The others then looked at the cart that Shirou brought with him. Three fallen angels and eight humans were all unconscious. Some of them were bleeding from their noses, mouths, and even ears. The weird part was that they were comically being stacked on top of each other.

"Let my soldiers take care of them, young Emiya, and *sniff* you... definitely need a shower," Iskandar stated. The others couldn't agree more with the King of Conquerors, especially after smelling the stench that the Magus was exuding. Iskandar then summoned two of his soldiers from 'Ionioi Hetairoi' and said soldiers were already doing their tasks.

"Ahh... yes, must be because of all the blood and sweat. By the way, your soldiers... they're from your Noble Phantasm huh... Waver told me a bit about them." Shirou said while inspecting himself. The others were wondering just what was Iskandar's Noble Phantasm could do.

"So... you can summon soldiers, Old Man? That's pretty unique, I guess." Achilles commented.

"When the time is right, I shall show all of you my kingship, my greatest Noble Phantasm," Iskandar said. Karna, hearing the conversation, became slightly interested by Iskandar's words.

"I should help them carrying the 'prisoners' as well," Shirou asked.

"I believe that it is more helpful for you to take a bath, Shirou Emiya," Scathach said while trying not to breath with her nose.

"Do I really smell that bad?" asked Shirou. The others instantly nodded.

Shirou then left the others and entered the mansion. He also realized that he made Arturia upset, something that he never wanted. Shirou was deep in thought about how to talk to her, but a bath was the first thing he needed to do. He also thought about the other Contractors, how they said that they would help him, it kinda shed a new light on him since he was used to do things alone in his past life.

"Comrades, huh..." he muttered.

Shirou Emiya entered the shower and let the water wash over him. He was reminiscing his past life, how he had never let anyone follow him, how he shunned everyone in order to protect them, how he had cut his ties with Fuji-nee, Sakura, and even Rin. He was so used to being alone that the thought of having the other Contractors fighting with him hadn't crossed his mind back then.

' _Old habits die hard, I guess...'_ he thought while cleansing himself.

After the shower, he clothed himself with clean clothes while pondering about what he would need to say to Arturia. He arrived in front of door to Arturia's room, his right hand almost knocked on the door, yet he stopped himself. To be honest, he didn't know what to say, and would probably make the situation worse if he had gone in head first. The thought of making her angrier truly scared the shit out of him.

' _It's almost 2 am... she's probably asleep right now'_ he thought.

Shirou Emiya looked around the mansion to see that everyone was already resting at their respective rooms. He remembered that the fallen angels and the rogue exorcists that were recently captured, and beaten up to a pulp, hadn't been interrogated. So, he set himself toward the basement to finish the job.

* * *

Dawn was breaking over the horizon. The dark blue sky was starting to be clearer, and the sun was almost visible. For Karna, the sunrise was always a beautiful sight to witness. He always felt like the sun was always there for him from the moment he was born and even accompanied him in his past life's death.

After watching said sunrise from the backyard, Karna went back to the mansion. He then entered the living room in order to see if anyone had awoken yet. To his surprise, he saw Shirou Emiya sleeping rather awkwardly on the couch. It truly looked like he accidentally fell asleep there.

For Karna, the Magus was always a puzzle that he couldn't solve. Karna could always discern everyone that he met even with the slightest interactions due to his poor upbringing, and everything that Karna felt about the man known as Shirou Emiya was more than puzzling.

His heart felt pure yet broken to a fault, he was willing to do selfless acts yet it felt like it was for his own personal gain, he looked like he wanted to care for others, yet didn't want to be taken care of by others, his presence was almost more machine than man if not for his love for the King of Knights, and most of all, Karna felt a sense of guilt, loss, and burden within the Magus, yet it felt like said Magus accepted them instead of diminishing them.

Karna was immediately cut out of his musings when Shirou woke up from his sleep. His eyes were looking like they weren't rested, signaling that his sleep was not longer than about two hours. Shirou looked around the living room and was met with Karna's stoic face.

"Morni- *crack* ah... my neck," Shirou said while rubbing his stiff neck.

"It seems that you did not have enough rest, may I ask why?" Karna asked.

"Ahh... I interrogated the ones that I brought the other night, didn't get a lot, but I got the nun's name. The rogue exorcists are basically just mercenaries, then I made a giant cage for them. After that whole thing ended... I sat here and accidentally fell asleep."

"You did not have to do all of those things alone, Shirou Emiya. If you had asked, I am sure the others would have been happy to help. We are all Contractors of Alaya, after all."

"You know, I'm so used to being alone when it comes to these things, probably just gonna need some time to adjust myself."

Karna felt that the man named Shirou Emiya had gone through hardships in his past life alone, never shared his burdens to anyone. It was truly intriguing for the Hero of Charity.

"May I ask you a personal question, Shirou Emiya?" he asked.

"Sure, I don't really mind."

"To be perfectly candid, everything that I discern about you is truly confusing for me. Your selfless acts, your mannerisms, and your presence are all just intriguing and yet disturbing at the same time. You act selflessly yet I feel it is for your own personal gain, your presence tells me that you cannot be corrupted yet damaged to a fault, and you care for others yet being cared for irks you. What are you, Shirou Emiya?" Karna honestly asked.

Shirou was a little surprised by the question. They barely had interacted for a couple of days and yet, Karna was already able to deduce his state of mind half as close as Rin did. This conversation would definitely be a long one.

"I think that I need a cup of coffee before I start answering," Shirou said while still rubbing his neck and also was rubbing his back. He decided that he would no longer accidentally sleep on the couch again. He then walked to the kitchen and when he returned, he brought two cups with him and gave one to Karna. He sat himself on the couch and Karna was seated beside him.

"There was once a boy. Everything about the boy was normal, normal parents, normal life. One day, a calamity happened. A great fire that burned everything and everyone indiscriminately. The boy's parents were killed by said fire, and the boy was alone. He witnessed death due to said calamity, he witnessed people desperately begging for help, yet no one answered, he witnessed... _hell._ He didn't remember anything about his life after seeing all of that and already accepted his impending death. But, out of nowhere, a man saved him. The boy didn't know what to feel because he was already empty, traumatized by the events that took place. The man looked so happy when he saved the boy, the boy felt like he was the one saving the man instead of the other way around."

It was truly a story worth being invested in for Karna. But whether or not the story was a tragedy, it was unknown to him.

"After being saved, the boy was adopted. He didn't know what to feel about any of his predicament. He had nightmares at night... 'Why was he saved?' 'Why not the others?' All those questions were on his head most of the time. The man that adopted him was, of course, more than nice. But the most important thing of all was that he left the boy with his ideals. To become a 'Hero of Justice', the embodiment of an ideal of saving everyone. The boy took this Ideal that was passed on to him, was it because of his state of mind? Or maybe admiration? Or was it because it was a beautiful wish? He didn't care about any of that because it felt like saving someone was the only thing that could repay his 'sin'. He chose to become that ideal, a 'Hero of Justice'."

"Living as an ideal... that life will be that of a machine than a human. But the one I am seeing right now doesn't feel like a machine. So, what saved the boy from that fate?" asked Karna.

"Would you believe me if I told you that it was love?"

Karna was having an unreadable expression after those words were said by the Magus.

"It was truly surprising for the boy, he never thought that he was worthy of loving anyone, or even worthy of being happy in the first place. But after meeting and falling in love with _her_. No matter how far he would go upholding his ideals, he always remembered the girl that he loved." Shirou stated. His love for Arturia was always stronger than anything he had in his Reality Marble. Even though he had ideals to uphold, love actually kept him from doing extreme measures to uphold said ideals. This train of thought made Shirou longing for _her_.

"Your love for Arturia keeps you from becoming a machine..." commented Karna.

"That obvious huh..." Shirou said while having a slightly surprised expression. He knew that Karna could discern others well, but he didn't expect him to know about his feelings for the King of Knights.

"Did the boy have any regrets?" Karna asked with a stoic face.

"Every time I look back, I can always say that I lived my past life with the best of my abilities at the time. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't add anything If I were sent back in time. If the boy had known that his sister's time was... short, he would've given her more waffles, he would've given her more of his time, he would've given her more hugs, he would've... given her _more."_ Shirou answered with a sad smile.

The words that were spoken by him were laced with sadness, grief, loss, yet also happiness. Even though remembering Illya was hard for him, all the good times that Shirou Emiya spent with his sister would always be something he could look back with a smile on his face. He would never let those memories be forgotten or tarnished by regretting all that he did with her.

"What am I, you asked? Well... I'm just someone who is trying to uphold his ideals that are dripping with hypocrisy, someone who will always say ' _it's never wrong to help those in need',_ someone that will always try to become _A Hero of Justice,_ and... Someone who loves Arturia Pendragon from the bottom of his heart." He answered while giving Karna a serene and honest smile.

Shirou then remembered that the one he loved was a little upset with him. He knew that he needed to talk to her about last night. It was dreadful for him to think that Arturia was mad and he definitely knew that he would need to rectify that.

"Now... I think I need to apologize to someone. To be honest, it's actually pretty good to talk with you, Karna." Shirou stated to Karna. The Magus left Karna alone in the living room. Karna was having an unreadable face. His thoughts were lingering on Shirou's answer about his state of being.

' _I do not know whether your heart is pure or broken, Shirou Emiya. Like you said, your life is dripping with hypocrisy, and yet I find some sense of beauty in it as well. You are truly an enigma that I cannot solve...'_ Karna heavily thought.

* * *

The sunlight was basking her golden hair. Her sleep was nowhere near pleasant. Arturia woke up from her sleep with a little sense of loneliness. It was, without a doubt, because of the lack of company being given by _him._ She never wanted to be angry at him, but she was reminded of how reckless he could be. For her, the Fifth Holy Grail War had been ages ago, and some of the worst memories from that time haunted her for a bit. The scene of her _love_ let himself be fatally injured by Heracles was the one that she could always recall, and said memory reminded her of how much of an idiot Shirou Emiya could be... then again, she was head over heels for that idiot.

Arturia was still on her bed, hugging her pillow, her hair was let down and she was on her nightgown, pondering about why she was mad at him. She felt like she had overreacted last night, and said overreaction was a little childish of her. But was she wrong to worry about her lover?

She didn't finish that thought because someone was hugging her from behind. Someone entered her room and was sleeping right next to her. His right arm was embracing her body, his breath was touching the back of her neck, and his mouth was close to her ear... a little too close.

"I... could've sworn that I locked the door..." she said.

A replica of a key dematerialized on a small table.

"Are you still mad at me?" he whispered.

"..."

"I'm sorry."

His voice was enchanting for her to hear, her face was showing a small tinge of pink, and her body tensed up just a little bit after his whispers were heard. Arturia felt slightly charmed and slightly apologetic. But she was a king, and she wouldn't let her be... _seduced_ by the one she loved... maybe.

"I... am still angry..." Arturia tried to convince him... and herself.

"Are you?" he asked.

"Y-Yes, you were idiotic, reckless, foolish..."

"You fell in love with me because I'm like that..."

She really didn't know how to respond to that, and he had a slight smirk.

"But yes... I was idiotic, reckless, and foolish..." he stated.

"Just because you admit it, doesn't mean you're forgiven..."

"Turn around and look at me... please." he requested.

Arturia followed his request and turned around. Her emerald eyes met his peerless golden eyes. He was showing an apologetic face that slightly affected her. She realized that his lips were too close to hers, and just a bit nudge from her would be enough to... she restrained herself from doing that.

"I really am sorry, Arturia... I should've told you and the other Contractors. I'm just so used to being alone when it comes to those things that the thought didn't cross my mind."

"Shirou... you're not alone, not anymore... and I overreacted last night, I was just reminded of your recklessness, like when you defended me from Berserker's attack... but is it wrong for me to worry about the man I love?"

"You know, I'm actually quite happy that my girl is that caring..."

Arturia's face was as red as a tomato because of those words, while Shirou smiled at the situation. He then pulled her closer toward him, his right arm embracing her waist, their bodies touching, their legs intertwined, and their faces were barely apart.

"Can you forgive me, Arturia?" he whispered.

"J-Just d-don't do it again..."

"Does that mean I'm not sleeping outside?"

"I-I don't see anything w-wrong with that..."

"Did it feel lonely last night?" he asked teasingly.

Arturia almost said yes, but she knew that her lover was teasing her. Instead of answering him, she playfully hit him with a pillow. He let out a small laugh because of that and also because of her face being redder than ever.

"Okay, okay... stop hitting me with that, it's... actually starting to hurt," he said while still having a playful smile.

"I-Idiot." she muttered.

The two were now sitting on the bed instead of lying down. Shirou looked at Arturia, the sunlight was giving her a beautiful glow, her golden hair was shining, and her face was adorable, ethereal, and stunning.

His hand then caressed her long hair slowly, softly, and intimately.

"You know... you should let your hair down more often..." he said.

"W-Why?"

"It's just...well, really beautiful. Then again, you always look beautiful just the way you are."

Arturia really couldn't hold her blush after he said those words. His hand was no longer caressing her hair and was moving toward her cheeks.

"You truly are beautiful..." he muttered.

"Shirou..."

Her heart couldn't beat any faster. She felt his firm hand caressing her intimately and passionately. He eyed her rosy cheeks and her soft pink lips. He couldn't control himself any longer, every part of his body told him that to act.

He moved toward her and immediately gave her a passionate kiss. Arturia couldn't voice any disagreement because she immediately answered said kissed.

They weren't taking any breaks, and after a while, Arturia felt his _tongue_ exploring the insides of her mouth. She felt a little weak after that, while he only wanted more and more of her taste.

He laid her down. The kiss was still ongoing and his force was getting more and more powerful every second, and he could hear her moans that were only slightly silenced by his own lips.

He stopped infiltrating her mouth and witnessed the scene in front of him. She was lying down and he was on top of her. Her cheeks were red as a beet, her breaths were hard and rigid, her lips were glossier than ever, and her emerald eyes were just too beautiful to look at. His self-control was almost non-existent after witnessing all of that. He wanted to taste her more and more...

She truly didn't know how to think anymore after he had finished exploring her mouth and basically counting her teeth with his tongue. She looked at the man that was on top of her. His breath were hard and rigid, his golden eyes were as sharp as a razor, and his expression was filled with... hunger.

He tasted her more and more by going to her cheek and ear. She was given a barrage of kisses and _licks_ from the Magus.

He then moved toward her neck. The force that he was giving from his mouth was too much for Arturia. Her mind could no longer think. She could feel his lips kissing and sucking her neck deeply and passionately and she could feel his hands exploring her body from her waist to her thighs.

Arturia could only moan because of all the things that he was doing. The acts were not stopping at all. Their senses were going haywire, hers because of Shirou's kisses and touches, and his because his self-control was losing the fight against his libido. He then stopped his attacks on her neck and went back to meet her face while his hands were embracing her thighs.

"Arturia..." he whispered.

"S-Shirou..." she whispered back.

Her lips were right in front of her, her thighs were basically clutching on to him, and his 'little general' was being awoken. He knew that, in a few seconds, he could no longer control his arousal. So, instead of trying to fight back, he was going in for the kil-

All of his dirty thoughts were interrupted due to a large noise coming from his lover.

To be more specific, his lover's _stomach_...

It started with a little snort from him, and after a few seconds, he could no longer hold his laughter

"Bwahahahahahahahahahahhahahaha... " he laughed and laughed some more while rolling on the bed.

"S-Stop l-laughing," Arturia ordered shyly.

"Haahh... to think that you're hungry as well... different kind of hunger though," Shirou stated while still having a laugh.

Arturia then repeatedly beat him with a pillow because of that statement.

"Ok ok... that kinda hurts..."

"I-It's n-not my fault... I haven't had anything to eat." She said while hugging the pillow to cover her flushed cheeks.

"Alright... since that moment's gone, why don't we head downstairs to have breakfast?" he asked with a smile.

She could only nod.

* * *

The two lovers headed downstairs after their make out session. They were greeted by the sight of the other Contractors casually sitting in the living room while waiting for breakfast to be served by their favorite cook.

Shirou instantly went to the kitchen and minutes later, he served breakfast at the dining table. He made creamy scrambled eggs, German sausages, sandwiches that were filled by bacon, lettuce, tomato and his own blend of sauce. He also served tea, coffee and orange juice as beverages.

The others instantly headed toward the dining room after the scent of his dishes infiltrated their noses. Breakfast being served was definitely a sight to behold for them. They were then seated and ate their respective breakfast.

"Look... about last night. I'm sorry... I should've told you guys about the nun and all that instead of going head first alone." Shirou said.

"You don't need to apologize, Shirou Emiya. But it would've been more appropriate if you had told us about it." Scathach said.

"To be honest, I just don't like that you got all the action for yourself. Just try to share a little." Achilles lazily stated.

Shirou could only smile after the other Contractors voiced their opinions. Arturia, who was sitting beside him, was smiling as well.

"Does this mean I don't need to always cook and share my workload?" Shirou jokingly asked.

"Nonsense, young Emiya! Your cooking shall not be compromised by anyone... it is a treasure that needs to be preserved than to be lessened." Iskandar stated while hitting the table. The Magus' food was a blessing and one of Iskandar's major reasons on why he wanted the Magus to join his army.

"Alexander is right, Shirou Emiya. I won't agree to that," commented Scathach.

"Your cooking is more than treasure for all of us," Karna said.

"I'd rather fight Hector again than cook for all of you." Achilles stated.

"I'm not sure that you can even cook, Achilles," Arturia commented.

"WHAT YOU SA- wait, like hell I'd fall for that..."

The others shared a laugh due to that exchange. It was a pleasing sight for Shirou to witness and made him remembered a remnant of the time long past. An English teacher that always acted like a child, a purple-haired girl that was gentle and caring, a twin-tailed tsundere with quite a sharp tongue, a white-haired sister that was always clinging onto him, and all of them were seated on the same table while waiting for him. Truly, a lovely memory to remember...

While Shirou was reminiscing. Scathach, who was sitting beside Arturia, witnessed something that was rather surprising.

"It seems that someone put a love mark on you, Arturia." Scathach lightly said. Her voice was too soft for everyone to hear except for Arturia herself, and Shirou who was sitting on her right side.

Arturia was a little confused with what Scathach meant about 'a love mark'. On the other hand, Shirou, who had been drinking when he had heard it, almost spilled his coffee from his mouth.

He looked at Arturia, or to be specific, Arturia's neck. It wasn't really big, but with a closer look, everyone would definitely tell.

A hickey.

A hickey was on the King of Knights' neck.

' _Ooo shittttt.'_ Shirou thought. He then whispered to Arturia. She instantly covered her neck with her left hand and her face was really blushing. She then glared at her lover while he could only give her an apologetic smile, calculate Avalon's healing time in his mind, and hope that the other Contractors didn't notice it and one of them already did.

"How interesting..." Scathach muttered while having a serene smile and then drank her tea.

Meanwhile, Shirou was thinking about Scathach, more importantly, her proficiency on Runes. He had seen a devil using Spatial Transportation using a Magic Circle about two days ago, and considering that magecraft in this world was basically equivalent to be hailing from the Age of Gods was a little concerning.

"Scathach, you said that you have Primordial Runes hailing from Scandinavia... So, can you help me with something?" he asked.

"If it's within my abilities, I don't see why not," she answered.

"It's about bolstering our defense here. I can make a normal Barrier, but I'm not sure that's good enough, considering that the devil that I last saw was able to perform Spatial Transportation using a Magic Circle."

"I can set my Runes to block any kind of foreign Circles being conjured here... Leave this mansion's defenses to me, Shirou Emiya, I shall finish it by noon," Scathach stated. Her Runes would definitely be enough to defend the mansion.

"Thank you for that. By the way, can you perform Spatial Transportation?" asked Shirou.

"Only if the place in question is marked by one of my Runes," she answered.

' _So like a fast travel huh... that'll be convenient._ ' Shirou thought.

Shirou then continued to drink his coffee while looking at the others. Everyone was finishing their respective breakfasts, but he noticed that one Contractor was missing.

"Where's Jeanne?"

* * *

The sunlight was basking two young women. One was still soundly sleeping, and the other was sitting on a chair while watching her. The latter was the Maiden of Orleans herself, Jeanne d'Arc. Last night, she let the nun slept on her bed while she rested on the chair beside her. It was harrowing for her to think that a girl younger than her had been almost killed by fallen angels in order to take her 'miracle'. She thanked God for Shirou rescuing her before that happened.

Her musings were stopped by a soft knock on the door.

"Come in," Jeanne said.

The person then entered the door after she gave her permission.

It was Achilles, the Son of Peleus, and the Hero of Trojan War. After knowing that it was him that had entered, Jeanne had a small blush on her face. It was always hard for Jeanne to be near handsome men, and considering that every men living in the mansion had their own charms, it was harder for her not to be blushing most of the time. Shirou Emiya with his charming smile, Karna with his stoic expression, Iskandar with his 'guns', and Achilles with his sharp gaze. Truly, a hard thing for Jeanne to endure.

"Hey, the others are looking for you... and they're eyeing your share of breakfast as well, by the way," said Achilles. He was wearing his casual clothes. White t-shirt, brown slim leather jacket, and grey skinny jeans. Jeanne was wearing a pink sweater, a blue skirt, and a cross necklace.

"S-Sorry for worrying you, I'm just waiting for her to wake up from her slumber," Jeanne said while a bit of pink colored her cheeks.

"Ahhh yes, the nun. Why is she in your room?" he asked.

"She needs a bed to rest..."

"Yes... but you know there's one more room available right?"

"O-Oh... I-I d-didn't remember," she answered while her cheeks were getting redder. Achilles had a little smirk after seeing her like that.

Achilles then looked at the nun that was comfortably sleeping on the bed. She looked really innocent for him and he was wondering what kind of pain the ones who were responsible deserved. Then again, the Magus already beat him to it.

"Fallen angels huh... to think they'd target such a devoted girl, I guess that answers your question on why they've fallen in the first place," he stated while leaning against a wall and crossing his arms.

"It must be quite an ordeal for her, and to think that angels were the ones that almost took her life is just..." Jeanne added.

"Yeah well... you can always visit them in the basement. Karna told me that Emiya put them in a giant cage or something... poor bastards were lucky that I wasn't the one that visited them last night," he said while having a slight grin.

"I truly thanked the Lord for not letting her meet her end so soon, and certainly Shirou for saving her as well," she replied. Having heard her reply, Achilles had one small question to ask.

"Tell me something, why would you devote yourself to 'God'?" Achilles asked. He was a little intrigued by the story of Jeanne d'Arc. A normal farm girl from a small village that had heard God's sorrow about the war that ongoing for more than a hundred years, so she decided to join said war in order to appease him. At first she succeeded realizing her wishes, but in the end, she was burnt at the stake and was called a witch by enemy forces for years.

It reminded him of the Trojan War somehow, where glory and demise met and were intertwined.

"Sorry, kinda rude huh... it's just that the Trojan War, the place where I once thought that I could find glory and immortality, was basically also entertainment for the Olympians, a chess board for the gods and I was one of the pieces. I figured that out... a little too late. Is it the same for you, Jeanne?" Achilles continued while gazing at the room instead of her.

"There's no need for you to apologize, Achilles, and I truly can't say that I intimately know your story. But I didn't join the Hundred Years' War for glory or fame or immortality. When I heard the Lord's sadness and anguish about the war that was ongoing, he didn't order me or manipulate me to do something. I... fought because I wanted to reduce not just his pain but also... the pains of those who were entangled as well. Even though the end of the path that I chose was harrowing, it's not something that I can ever regret." Jeanne answered his question while having a peaceful smile directed at him.

Having heard what Jeanne said to him, Achilles was lost in his own thought while looking at her. All that he could think of was how pure the Maiden of Orleans was. Her presence exuded purity yet he knew that she had seen a fair amount of death and demise.

' _I don't even think that 'God' deserves you, Jeanne. You're just like 'her'... too pure for any gods to have or to touch.'_ Achilles thought while looking at her. The thought brought him a sad smile to his face.

His musings were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in." Jeanne gave her permission.

Jeanne and Achilles saw the one who knocked entered the room. It turned out to be Shirou Emiya and he was holding a breakfast-in-bed tray. Shirou looked around the room and was given the sight of the nun soundly sleeping on the bed, Jeanne sitting on a chair beside the bed, and Achilles leaning on a wall not too far from Jeanne's position.

"Hey, am I interrupting?" Shirou asked.

"N-Not at all..." Jeanne answered with a little bit of shyness. Her room was filled with two handsome men and they were looking at her. She really couldn't hold back a tinge of pink on her cheeks.

"I was actually looking for the nun... guess don't need to now. Oh, here, I also brought your breakfast as well, Jeanne. Arturia and Iskandar were eyeing it a little too much if you know what I mean." Shirou said. He then put the tray that he was carrying on a small counter and gave Jeanne her breakfast. The rest of the food that was still on the tray was reserved for the one that was sleeping.

"O-Oh, thank you for bringing it here, S-Shirou..." Jeanne shyly replied and accepted the plate. The plate was filled with a sandwich, two sausages, and scrambled eggs. It had a really alluring scent. It was so alluring that the nun that was sleeping had a slight reaction.

"Emiya, you got any info on the nun? I mean, we can't really keep calling her 'the nun' forever." Achilles asked the white-haired Magus.

"Her name is Asia Argento. The fallen angels wanted her Sacred Gear, 'Twilight Healing', because it can heal a fatal wound in minutes. Apparently, they got to her because she was excommunicated by the Vatican Church." Shirou answered.

"Do you know the reason why they banished her?" Jeanne asked. She was slightly surprised that the nun that looked so innocent could get such a severe punishment.

"I didn't ask any further. It's a little private in my opinion, but maybe we can ask her...now," said Shirou while noticing that the nun's nose was twitching and her body was slightly moving.

She woke up rather peacefully. Her eyes fluttered and she slightly rubbed them. She let out a cute and long yawn in front of her audience. After said yawn, she realized that she was not in the catacombs of Kuoh Town's abandoned church, but in a rather comfy bed.

Her eyes then analyzed the sight in front of her. A beautiful blonde young woman that was slightly older than her was sitting in a chair beside the bed, a rather masculine and handsome man was leaning against a wall near the beautiful blonde woman, and a familiar-looking man with white hair was standing in front of the bed that she occupied.

Before Asia had seen him, she was slightly afraid due to waking up while being watched by strangers, but after her eyes met the white-haired man's form, she felt safe and slightly warm.

"Good morning," he said to her sleepy form while having a serene smile. She couldn't hold back her blushing after seeing it.

"M-M-Morning, I-If I may ask, can you tell me w-where I am?" shyly said Asia, while covering herself with a blanket.

"Well... you're on the outskirts of Kuoh Town. Don't worry, you're safe now," Shirou replied.

Asia had a bit sense of relief considering that she had been close to reaching the afterlife. She then took a great look at the white-haired man that was in front of her, and realized who he was.

She jumped from the bed and gave him her sincerest gratitude. Shirou didn't really feel comfortable because she was still in her nightgown and the other two Contractors were watching him.

"Y-You were the one that save me l-last night. I-I cannot t-thank you enough!" Asia proclaimed, bowing her head low in order to show how big her gratitude really was. To think that she had a chance to meet that _boy..._

"Ehhh... you don't need to thank me, Asia, I was just in the right time and place, that's all," said Shirou, downplaying his actions the night before.

"Yeahh... running like you got Medusa chasing your butt in order to save her was definitely 'being in the right time and the right place'," Achilles joked with a small smirk plastered on his face. It was amusing to see Emiya downplay his heroic actions... and the memory of him running like crazy from the mansion was kinda amusing as well.

"I-I truly can't thank y-you enough, mister... b-but how d-did you know my name?" Asia asked.

"Oh.. I inte-, I mean, asked the fallen angels from last night..." answered Shirou while giving her his trademark smile.

Asia slightly widened her eyes because she was afraid they would think badly of her for being excommunicated by the church.

"I-I'm sorry... you must know that I was banished f-from the c-church, a-and to think that you gave me a place to rest..." Asia said while looking down.

Jeanne, who was hearing the whole conversation, stood up from her chair and reached out to the nun who looked saddened and distraught.

"It's fine, Asia. Shirou knew that it was a private matter and so, he didn't pry any further, especially about why you were exiled, what matters is that you are safe now. You don't need to tell us anything unless you can trust us." Jeanne comforted her and also put her hands on Asia's shoulder. She then made Asia sat on the edge of the bed in order for her to relax.

Asia was more than flabbergasted. The presence that she felt within the other blonde in the room was so pure, holy, and warm. It truly felt like she was in the presence of a saint. A shining light that could not be corrupted by any darkness whatsoever.

"Y-Y-Yes, thank you, miss... and you as well, M-Mr. Shirou... for everything," Asia shyly said while giving everyone a pure and happy smile.

"Just call me Shirou, Asia. You can tell her your name as well if you want..." Shirou said while giving his attention to Jeanne as well.

"Very well then, you can call me by my name, Jeanne, it's truly relishing to meet you, Asia." Jeanne happily said.

"And this handsome guy right here, who's leaning against the wall, you can call him... Bradley." Shirou said while pointing at Achilles. The one who was being pointed had a tick mark on his head.

"THAT'S NO- you know what, that's not important right now..." said Achilles, trying not to burst out.

"It's really nice to know all of you, Shirou, Ms. Jeanne, and Mr. Bradley..." Asia said while bowing her head in front of them.

Asia was happy. To think that they rescued her and even though they knew that she was no longer a nun, they gave her a place to stay, a bed to rest, and a chance to meet with her first _friend_. She felt that they deserved more than her trust...

"I-I am more than grateful for everything... and the r-reason why I-I was excommunicated..." Asia said, stuttering hard and almost bit her tongue.

"You don't need to force yourself, Asia. Like I said, if you don't want to-"

"N-No, please... I want to," Asia interjected. She then steeled herself into talking.

"I-It's b-because I healed a devil..." Everyone slightly widened their eyes after hearing the words that came out of Asia's mouth.

"About a month ago... I found a devil i-in front of the church that I lived in. He was h-heavily injured and he was begging for anyone to help him. I-I healed him a-and the Vatican Church h-heard of what I did... they said that I-I w-was a traitor, a heretic, a _witch..."_ stated Asia. A tear dropped from one of her eye, and seconds later, it multiplied. The ones who heard those words felt the sadness that the nun was conjuring, all except one...

"Do you regret it?" Shirou asked Asia while giving her a serious expression. He didn't try to comfort her or say that she was not wrong, because the answer was important for him.

"N-No... I w-won't and c-can't regret it, if i did, then the ones that were healed by my Sacred Gear... I-I'd basically be mocking them as well. The Lord gave me this miracle... a-and His teachings have taught me empathy, love, and compassion, n-not any kind of hatred..." Asia gave her answer while wiping her tears.

For Jeanne, it was slightly hard for her to hear that a girl with such innocence had a harrowing experience, and to think that it came from one of the foundations that she held deeply. Innocence and compassion that she exuded was scorned instead of being upheld.

For Achilles, it was not hard to listen what came out of the nun's mouth, but it reminded him of how zealotry ravaged Achaea, how sacrifices were happening over and over for the gods they served, even though most of the gods themselves didn't give two shits about what Humanity was doing as long as they received their entertainment.

And for Shirou, all that he was focusing was her answer. He knew that she was not lying even one bit and it truly gave him a smile on his face. He would definitely say to her that she was not wrong for doing it and would defend her reasoning every step of the way.

' _That's the right answer, alright...'_ he thought with a serene smile showing.

"Asia, your conviction... is not wrong. For me, the Lord never advocates hatred and always compassionate to all..." Jeanne said to Asia, sitting beside her while caressing her hair. Asia couldn't hold her tears from flowing after her ears got Jeanne's words.

Asia cried like she was a newborn baby. She hugged the Maiden of Orleans tightly and let her tears fell to Jeanne's chest. It was hard for her to reminisce how much she was scorned when the Church found out about it...

Jeanne kept petting Asia's head and was trying to comfort her the best way possible. She felt that the nun had been through more than she could endure.

The heartwarming scene was going on for about a few minutes. Shirou and Achilles looked at each other and felt like they were a little bit out of place. Asia was then finished being nurtured by Jeanne.

"Asia, I know you don't have anywhere else to go... If you want, you can stay here as long as you like," Shirou said to the youngest blonde. Deep in his mind, there was a bit of thinking going on about Asia staying...

"I-Is it truly alright? I mean..." Asia responded while wiping her eyes.

"Of course... by the way, here, you haven't had any breakfast yet," Shirou answered, his hands was holding the tray of food that he brought just nefore Asia woke up from her slumber.

"T-T-Thank y-you, Shirou... I-It smells really divine..."

"Leave it to Emiya, I bet that he woos every woman with his cooking..." Achilles commented, a little smirk was showing. Shirou could only let out a little laugh to the comment... because Achilles' wasn't really wrong to begin with.

"Well... 'Bradley' and I need to do something, if you need anything, just ask alright?" Shirou said to Asia with a charming smile.

"Y-Yes... I-I will..." Asia responded, her face was having a tinge of pink because of that smile.

Achilles slightly raised his eyebrow. He didn't know what the Magus meant... was it sparring? He didn't remember making any challenges though. Shirou then gestured Achilles to leave the room with him and after, Achilles followed him to go outside.

* * *

They were on the main staircase, facing each other. Achilles was crossing his hands while leaning against the railing, and Shirou had his hands in his pockets while also leaning against the railing.

"So.. what is it that we need to do?" Achilles asked.

"We're not gonna do anything... I actually just wanna talk... about Asia," Shirou said with a bit of a heavy breath.

"What about her?"

"It's about her staying here... what do you think?"

"She doesn't have a place, you gave her one, there's nothing wrong with that..."

"It's about our line of work that's concerning... I mean, our duty is literally 'stopping armageddon'. What if she gets killed because we're gonna face devils, gods, angels, or other deities?"

Achilles pondered about it. Considering that the Contractors were chosen specifically by Humanity's collective will, while the nun, even though she had some sort of healing abilities, wouldn't be able to defend herself against the forces that they were potentially gonning to face against.

"I hear you, Emiya, but still, we would just send her away or something? The fallen angels have made her a target already, and that's not counting the devils as well. She is already in danger as far as I know it," Achilles said.

"You're right... and add to the fact that the Church doesn't care as well. But still, she may be in greater danger now. There's nothing wrong with being a little paranoid right..."

It was all what he could think of. In his past life, Shirou Emiya had kept his precious ones at arm's length, and to think that what he and the other Contractors would definitely invite danger on the highest level...

Shirou cut out his own musings. He summarized that, for now, the nun should be safe from other factions that were still hunting her.

"So... wanna have a quick spar? I'm bored to death here. Since I got reincarnated, I only watched the tv with the Old Man..." Achilles requested, a playful and eager smirk was showing on his face.

"Sure, but someone needs to feed the prisoners first... you know what, I'm gonna take a raincheck on that. Kinda feeling rather bad for making them starve for hours," Shirou answered.

"Tch.. fine, I'm gonna find Karna then," Achilles then was walking away from the staircase in order to find the Hero of Charity. Meanwhile, Shirou walked to the kitchen and made breakfast for the prisoners that was being caged in the basement.

After giving the prisoners breakfast, which they loved so much that they felt rather lucky being his prisoners, he was in the main hall of the mansion, looking at two blondes who was there as well and dressed neatly. Jeanne was wearing the same clothes and Asia was wearing her nun clothing.

"Shirou, I-I was thinking that it's great for us to visit the town... wanna come with?" Jeanne asked the white-haired Magus. She wanted to take Asia outside because her story of rarely going out from the church that she grew up in, and two days ago, the nun found herself a friend that left her a lasting impression.

"Sure, why not.." Shirou said, a charming smile was formed on his face. The blondes that were witnessing it had a small tinge of pink due to said smile.

"And maybe we can get the others as well," Shirou thought out loud.

"Yeaa... good luck finding some of them," A voice came from behind Shirou. It was Achilles, he seemed a little annoyed, probably due to the fact that he was bored as hell..

"Well, wanna go outside?" Shirou asked Achilles. He knew that Achilles was more than just bored.

"You know what, screw it. Besides... I don't mind going out with a couple of damsels," Achilles said, his expression was sharp and fierce, his eyes were predatory and he looked toward the two blondes, they could only blush harder.

"Where are the others, by the way?" Shirou asked the Hero of Trojan War.

"Beats me... but I think the Old Man is in the living room with Arturia, Teach is probably working on this mansion's defense, and as for Karna... can't find him."

"Teach?" Jeanne asked.

"I think he means Scathach..." Shirou answered. Meanwhile, Asia heard the names that were brought up and felt that they were sort of familiar...

"There are others? I haven't introduced mysel-"

Asia's saying was cut off by a loud laughter coming from the living room. It was Iskandar's, but what the Contractors were feeling a little bit of killing intent that was exuded by Arturia.

' _Please don't tell me it's about the hickey...'_ Shirou thought while having a bit of a panic attack.

"You know what... maybe later," Shirou said panickly, his hands then held Asia's shoulders and then he pushed the nun outside while gesturing Jeanne and Achilles to go outside as well. He really didn't want to feel Arturia's bad side, especially when it was his fault.

After about 20 minutes, they arrived at the center of the town. It was pretty lively due to a fair was ongoing and Asia was excited seeing such a crowd and the stalls that were placed there.

The men that were there were distracted by the arrival of the two beautiful blondes. All of the men, including the ones that arrived with their respective partners, were clearly charmed. One exuded innocence and the other exuded grace and purity.

While the women were looking at the arrival of the two handsome men. The two also garnered the jealousy of the men there due to the fact that they arrived with the two blondes.

Shirou, who noticed the looks that he and his friends got, merely shrugged at them. Achilles, however, didn't know whether the glares were hostile or not. So, just to be safe, he glared back, and all the men that gave him the looks of jealousy were instantly intimidated.

"You know, you should just ignore them.." Shirou said to Achilles who were walking beside him. The two men were walking right behind Jeanne and Asia.

"Yeahh well, I don't like the way they were looking at me, and especially don't like their lustful looks they were giving to the girls," Achilles replied.

Shirou merely gave him a small smile. He definitely approved the Hero of Trojan War's way of thinking.

While the boys were chatting, the girls were having the time of their lives. Asia and Jeanne checked out all of the stalls with their eyes. Some of them were unique for them to see, and many of them were inviting because of the foods they were serving.

"Oh wowww, I've never seen such a fair like this..." Jeanne commented, she was definitely awed by everything that was in front of her.

"It's definitely filled with a lot of happiness," commented Asia, who was also awed.

It was definitely a pleasing sight for Shirou to see the girls having fun right then and there. For Achilles, it was rather pleasing as well to see beautiful girls having such smiles.

The fair was getting more and more lively and the streets were utterly crowded. Shirou and Achilles were standing side by side while Jeanne and Asia were in front of them.

But after being pushed by the crowd, Shirou and Achilles were not behind the girls anymore...

"Yupp... we got separated," Achilles said.

"Well.. they shouldn't be far," Shirou added.

Shirou and Achilles then walked together on order to search the two damsels. For the girls there, it was a pleasing sight to see two handsome men. Some of them were a little too pleased by the sight...

"The hell is 'yaoi'?" Achilles asked Shirou. He heard a few girls screaming that word and they kept repeating it.

"Just ignore it..." Shirou answered.

Achilles looked at his fellow Contractor. He didn't have a good first impression on the white-haired Magus. But overtime, his opinion changed. After seeing his duel against Arturia, he could definitely tell that the Magus was no slouch and definitely wouldn't be dead weight, especially his cooking. But for Achilles, the Magus' presence was slightly worrying.

"Something on your mind?" Shirou asked Achilles who was deep in his thought.

"Since you asked, it's actually about you."

"I... already have someone..."

"Not that you dumbshit!"

Shirou had a little laugh because of Achilles' reaction. In his mind, he was questioning about what Achilles meant. He already had a long conversation with Karna about who Shirou Emiya was. Maybe Heroic Spirits could really read people well.

"The presence you've been exuding is odd. It feels like you are Odysseus, Hector, and Patroclus combined. Sly as a fox, virtuous and integrous, and yet... naive to a fault," said Achilles. it was definitely a weird blend of personality and to think that everyone of those people that Achilles mentioned were people that he dreaded, respected, and valued.

"Is that a compliment?" Shirou asked playfully with a bit of seriousness.

"It's fucking weird, that's what."

"Wow, you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"Tch... blame Alaya for giving me modern slang. But seriously, you're one odd man, Emiya."

"Well... I've been called worse," Shirou replied. It was true, he had been called worse.

"What's weirder is that I feel that I can trust you." Achilles said while looking at the Magus with an unreadable expression.

For Shirou, everything that he had heard from Achilles' mouth was a bit accurate. Not as accurate as Karna's discernment, but more or less, not bad. Achilles' last sentence though, truly brought a smile to his face.

Shirou then stopped his walking and then Achilles stopped in front of him.

"Well... thank you for that, Achilles. You know... I think I saw Asia going to the direction of the park. Why don't you try to find Jeanne and we can meet up at that fire hydrant?" Shirou said to Achilles and then pointed at the fire hydrant 30 feet away from them.

"Sure.. catch you later, I guess," Achilles said and then walked away from the Magus. It felt rather abrupt for Achilles on how the Magus redirected the conversation, but hey, he didn't really care.

Shirou went to the opposite direction. His mind were thinking about the other Contractors that were with him on this quest. It was rather pleasing to be not lonely as he was in his past life. A sense of comradery filled Shirou's mind as well, and what Achilles said to him was rather pleasing as well.

After a few moments, Shirou finally arrived at the park. It was actually the same park where he saw a boy being killed by the fallen angel Raynare. The park was a little bit empty, not truly empty because at the center of the park, there was Asia who was looking rather confused with directions...

"Hey Asia," Shirou called the nun while also waving his right hand, gesturing her to come to him.

Asia walked rather quickly to Shirou's place.

"Ahh Shirou, t-there you are... I was trying to find everyone after we got separated, b-but as you can see, I-I got slightly lost," Asia said a little shyly.

"It's ok, hope you didn't wa-"

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!"

A loud voice coming right behind Shirou interrupted their conversation. Shirou then sensed that an attack was coming. He then traced Kanshou on his right hand and quickly parried the man's attack. The attacker got pushed back by said parry. Shirou then widened his eyes after seeing the attacker.

It was the boy that he failed to rescue two nights ago.

But what truly surprised him was the red draconic gauntlet on his left arm...

* * *

 **Author's notes II: Again, I'm really really sorry for making you guys wait... Major IRL issues happened (grandad got hospitalized, exams, etc). This chapter might be a little boring but next chapter there's gonna be a big fight (Not spar or anything or against rias' peerage, that's the only hint I'm giving you)**

 **I really can't promise you anything, but I will definitely try to make my update time weekly! (Btw, I always post an update on a chapter in my bio, so just check that out if you wanna know how a chapter is progressing)**

 **A few reviewers said that Shirou felt like he was OOC and not OOC as well. That's cuz I'm trying to add a little spice on him, making him more mature and also giving him a dash of Archer, just a little (the bill cosby joke in chap ! was probably a little stretching tho). Some of you also expressed your concerns on whether or not this gonna be a trashy harem fic. Hell no! I won't let that happen! That's the reason I hate DxD's plotline in the first place (and mostly cuz of Issei getting power ups ez af) .**

 **There's a lot of good things happening recently. The Walking Dead is good again, DRose is good again, and Breaking Bad is getting a sequel (wut!)**

 **So, like it? Love it? Hate it? Please review! And don't forget to hit that Fav/Follow button on your way out! (more than 1k alerts and almost 1k fav, I really can't thank you guys enough!)**

 **(Beta'd by swatforest, massive thanks, and thanks to Parcacious as well for liking this fic, he's my fav author on this site!)**

 **With that said, ITG out.**


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